
ot 



Michigan 



and 



United States 





FWVTTTWWV 



WUFPVPI 



^^USSEkb 6. OSTR)ltNBE^© 



IdfeAAAAAA 



llillilliiiiil 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

dJjap. 

Shelf .J3JL 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



CIVIL 



GOVEKNMENT 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES, 



AND OF THE 



State of Michigan. 



WITH STATEMENTS OF SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 
OF GOVERNMENT 









A TEXT BOOK FOR SCHOOLS 

BY 

RUSSELL C. OSTRANDER, 

OF THE LAPSING, MICHIGAN,. 



CHICAG 
GEO. SHERWOOI 




\ % % 



^ 



J 



COPYRIGHT, 1884, 
By GEO. SHERWOOD & CO. 



R. R. Donnelley & Sons, The Lakeside Press, Chicago, III. 



INTRODUCTION. 



That an outline, at least, of the principles and the 
machinery of civil government in the United States 
should be taught in the common schools, seems to be 
generally admitted. Teachers differ in opinion as to the 
best manner of teaching. For any plan of instruction 
some kind of text-book is a necessity. In the work here- 
with submitted has been attempted a statement of the 
general principles and the theory of our form of govern- 
ment, with a somewhat full description of the machinery 
of governing. 

An examination of the work will show that, in 
describing the duties of public officers, and even in 
naming officers, much has been omitted. 

The work cannot, of course, give the statute law of 
Michigan or of the United States. But it is believed 
that sufficient has been given, in a general way, under 
each subject treated, to fully illustrate the plan and form 
of government in both the Federal and State Govern- 
ments. 

A considerable number of references are made to 
books obtainable in nearly every law office, and in all 
public libraries. A reading of these will not be uninter- 
esting or unprofitable to teacher or pupil. 

The difficulty experienced has been to put matter 
into such shape that, preserving accuracy, it will be 
easily intelligible to the average common school student 
If a dictionary has to be consulted occasionally no harm 
will come of it. The teacher will have much to do with 
the success of the study. If for illustrations of the text, 
history, and daily occurrences in governing are freely 
used, the result can be only benefit. 

Lansing, Mich., July 1st, 1884. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Introduction. 

CHAPTER I.— Definitions. 

STATE CONSTITUTION. 

What it is. How formed, accumulated and enacted. Written 
and Unwritten. Force and effect of. Law opposed to, unconstitu- 
tional. Difference between accumulated and enacted. 

SOVEREIGNTY. 

Supreme power. Where vested. Extends to and embraces 
what subjects, What sovereign or supreme authority is. Powers 
exercised by the sovereign authority. 

LAW. 

A rule of action. Different meanings of word. Rule of civil 
conduct. Civil conduct is not individual conduct alone. Definition 
of law in the concrete. Law of the Land. Expression found in 
American Constitutions Meaning of. What it may mean in the 
United States. Broad meaning of law is the aggregate of rules and 
principles as distinguished from a particular rule. Includes principles 
as well as positive rules. No classification of different kinds of laws 
attempted. Law of Nations. Penal Law. Sanctions. Prospective 
law. Retrospective law. Called retroactive. Effect of such a law. 

STATUTE. 

Legislative enactment. Ordinances. Resolutions. Invalid as 
opposed to constitution. What power declares. Constitutional 
methods of enacting. One object to be stated in title. Reason for the 
provision. Three readings of bill. Passed by majority vote. Vote 
entered on journal. Open doors to legislature. No new bills after 
a certain time. Special sessions, laws limited to objects stated in 
call. How statute laws published When they take effect. Act of 

iii 



IV CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Congress, on approval by president. Rule at common law. Injus- 
tice of the rule. Changed by statute. Rules for construing statutes. 

CHAPTER II. 

GOVERNMENT GENERALLY. 

To govern is to rule. Government supposes authority, and 
persons and subjects for authority to act upon. 

Begins at home — in the family ; continued in the school. Com- 
mands have come from parents and teachers. Duties to act and 
abstain from acting, imposed by authority. Home authority exer- 
cised to procure respect and recognition of rights of all — the 
individual, and the family as a community. State authority exer- 
cised to give and insure recognition of individual rights and rights 
of the State as a whole. The family is a little State. Men are born 
into both. 

GOVERNMENT A NECESSITY. 

Men must live in communities. It is natural. No conception 
of communities of men not governed. Men can not live together 
without, as against each other, acquiring rights. A right in one 
makes a duty in another. Rules governing conduct spring up nat 
urally. Society and government are both grown institutions. 

CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Is the government which has sprung up in and grown with those 
communities which men naturally form — the community in which 
the family is a unit. What the fundamental idea of all civil govern- 
ment is. What civil government imports. Government is the 
authority of the society. The State is the society. 

DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT. 

No classification of forms of government attempted. Tendency 
of the times is and has been towards what is called free government. 
Object is liberty — civil and political. Government having grown 
with society, present desirable forms suggest former undesirable 
forms of government. 

WITH WHAT GOVERNMENT MUST CONCERN ITSELF. 
Protection of the governed. Does not mean alone protection 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. V 

from outside invasion ; or from physical violence. It means protec- 
tion of individual rights in the community. 

A right not recognized by government is not a right. In the 
view of morals an asserted right may be one which ought to be 
enforced. It is not available unless it can be enforced. Govern- 
ment, therefore, ought to concern itself with rights, their definitions 
and enjoyment. 

POWERS OF GOVERNMENT. 

Are all powers necessary to carry out the objects and purposes 
of government. Simply divided they may be named law-making, 
law-applying, law-enforcing; or legislative, judicial, executive. 

DISTRIBUTION OP POWERS. 

There could be no certainty of good government if all three of 
these powers were in the hands of one man, or one set of men 
Illustrations. 

Continued free government requires a distribution and limitation 
of these powers; provision for the exercise of each independently of 
the others 

POLITICAL LIBERTY. 

Exists in free governments. Is the result of the assertion of the 
individual in communities. 

Society necessarily takes on or developes a form of government 
suited to its spirit and thought. Political liberty consists in an 
effective participation by the individual in the making of the 
laws. 

When this right exists, civil liberty — free government — ought to 
exist. The United States has a free government; the citizen partici- 
pates in it; the powers of government are separated, distributed, 
independent ; there are written constitutions, state and federal ; these 
constitutions set bounds to authority, define the principal rights of 
the citizen, and can not themselves be changed except in prescribed 
ways. The people are sovereign; they have delegated sovereign 
power to departments and officers; the power to name those who 
exercise powers is at stated intervals returned to the people; the will 
of the majority is the supreme law; powers not delegated remain in 
the people. The sovereign power is all power. The State is the 
citizen. 



VI CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

CHAPTER III. 

GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Term United States implies a union of states. Government of 
United States the authority of that union. 

Theory of government is that of local self-government. Local 
affairs are attended to by people of localities. For this purpose 
territory is subdivided. Government of the United States has 
nothing to do with local affairs. It is a government of named or 
enumerated powers. These powers are named and limited in the 
Constitution of the United States. It has no authority over subjects 
not named. The people in a sense live under two governments — 
State and United States. 

The general government did not create the states and their 
governments. The original states united in forming the national 
government, for national purposes. Illustrations. Articles of Con 
federation. Constitutional Convention. Ratification of the Consti- 
tution. 

The exercising of powers delegated i'n the Constitution of the 
United States is the business of the general government. 

CHAPTER IV. 

TERRITORY OVER WHICH THE AUTHORITY OF 
THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT EXTENDS. 

Over the whole territory embraced within the several states and 
territories, District of Columbia, navy yards, etc. Authority exer- 
cised over the territory within and that without a state, very 
different. 

Over the territories, District of Columbia, and government reser- 
vations and purchases, it is supreme. 

In the states, it extends to those subjects only over which power 
is given by the constitution. 

Territories can only become states at the will of Congress. 
Inhabitants of them and of the District of Columbia do not partici- 
pate in the general government, nor in local government except in 
such manner as is prescribed by Congress. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER V. — Departments of Government. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Is vested in a Congress of the United States ; composed of two 
houses or branches ; house of representatives ; senate ; delegates 
from the states make up this body. 

House of Representatives ; delegates to are elected every second 
year by the people of the states. States divided into congressional 
districts. Division made every tenth year after census. Repre- 
sentatives apportioned by Congress. Present house has three hun- 
dred and twenty-five members. 

Delegate must be twenty-five years old Seven years a citizen 
of the United States. Must be an inhabitant of the state choosing 
him. Vacancy filled by new election . 

Chooses its own officers. Principal officer is Speaker. Is pre- 
siding officer. Speaker pro tern. Speaker appoints members to 
committees. Most important political office except President of the 
United States. Other officers. Delegates from territories. Has sole 
power to originate money bills, and sole power of impeachment. 

SENATE. 

Two senators from each state. Chosen by state legislatures. 
For six years. Each senator has one vote. Must be thirty years old. 
Nine years a citizen. Citizen of state choosing him. Vice President 
of the United States presides. Called president of the senate. Pres- 
ident pro tern, elected if vice president is disabled, dead, removed or 
acting president. Senate elects all other officers. Senate makes up 
its own committees. 

Generally a law may originate in either house of Congress. 
Assent of each house necessary to any law. Congress meets once a 
year, at Washington on first Monday in December. Each house 
sits by itself. Each house is judge of election, qualifications and 
return of its members. Majority of each is a quorum to do business. 
Less number may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance 
of absent members. Each house keeps and publishes a journal of its 
proceedings. Neither house without the consent of the other can 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that 
in which the two houses shall be sitting. Compensation of delegates. 
Privileges. 

T 13 



V1U CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

CHAPTER VI. 

POWERS OF CONGRESS. 

Enumerated powers ; Art. 1, Sec. 8, Constitution, U. S. 

Prohibitions. Suspension of habeas corpus. 

Bill of Attainder. Ex post facto law. 

No money to be drawn from the treasury unless appropriated 
by law. No title of nobility to be granted ; and no laws respecting 
an establishment of religion to be passed, or prohibiting the free 
exercise thereof ; or abridging freedom of speech or of the press, 
or the right of citizens to assemble and petition government. 

Right of citizens to bear arms. Soldiers not to be quartered on 
the people in peace except by consent. Security of person and 
property. Twice in jeopardy. Accused need not testify against 
himself. Due process of law. Compensation for private property 
taken for public use. Right of a citizen to a speedy and public trial 
in criminal cases. Right to jury of the vicinage. To be informed 
of the accusation, confronted with the witnesses, have compulsory 
process for witnesses, and assistance of counsel. Excessive fines not 
to be imposed. Nor unusual nor cruel punishments inflicted. 

Enumeration of certain rights not to deny others retained by the 
people. Powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited 
to the states, belong to the states or the people. Validity of public 
debt not to be questioned. Right to vote not to be denied or 
abridged. 

Third branch of legislature. President must approve bill. 
Approves by signing. Returns it to house originating, if not approved, 
with reasons. Congress may amend to suit views of president, pass 
over the veto, or take no further action. To override veto requires 
sanction of two-thirds the Congress. Bill retained by president ten 
days, Sundays excepted, it becomes a law, unless Congress adjourns. 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Executive power vested in President of the United States. 
Elected. Term of office four years. Qualifications. Salary. Resi- 
dence. Duties. Executive Department. Cabinet. Foreign Minis- 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX 

ters. Judges. President, Commander-in-chief of army and navy. 
Of militia in actual service. 

Some of tfie powers of the Executive. Vacancy in the office. 
Election of. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE JUDICIAL POWER. 

Vested in one Supreme Court and inferior courts. 

Inferior courts created by Congress. Judges. 

Supreme Court. Judges. Salaries. Circuits. Sessions. Juris- 
diction. 

Cikcuit Courts Jurisdiction. 

District Courts. Jurisdiction. 

Source op Jurisdiction, of all courts except the Supreme 
Court. 

Court of Claims. Jurisdiction. Judges. Sessions. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Some of the Constitutional Prohibitions upon States. Art. 1, 
Sec. 10, Constitution of the United States. 

Explanation. Letters of marque and reprisal. What they are. 
Declaration of Paris, 1856. 

COINAGE. 

Reasons why states should not coin money. 

BILLS OF CREDIT. 

What they are. Does not apply to notes of a state bank drawn 
on credit of a particular fund. Nor any bills circulating on private 
credit. Nor extend to evidence of indebtedness issued by a state for 
borrowed money, or services performed for it. 

BILL OF ATTAINDER. 

Doctrine of attainder. Abolished in England. Is a legislative 
conviction and punishment for crime. 

LAWS IMPAIRING THE OBLIGATION OF CONTRACTS. 

Clause much discussed. Decisions of the courts. Republican 
form of government guaranteed. 



X CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

CHAPTER X. — Some other Powers of Sovereignty. 

EMINENT DOMAIN. 

Right to take private property for public use. Inherent in sov- 
ereignty. Power restricted by constitutions. 

Definition of the right. Property subject to be taken. Must be 
for a public purpose. Taking must be by legislative authority. 

Powers usually exercised by the state. Compensation. Taking 
limited to the necessity, — so far as quantity is concerned. Power 
must be exercised strictly within the limitations. 

THE UNITED STATES A PREFERI4ED CREDITOR. 
When. 

CHAPTER XL— Public Revenues. 

TAXATION. 

What it is for. Definitions of. Power to tax. Duty of citizen. 
Differs from subsidies. Power unlimited. Is legislative., Necessity 
— a question for legislature. Fixing amount of tax and naming sub- 
jects to be taxed, within legislative power. 

RESTRICTIONS UPON THE POWER. 

Constitutional. Limitations which inhere in the power itself. 
Power cannot be delegated. State agencies, etc., can not be taxed. 
Direct Taxes. Indirect Taxes. Collection of the revenues. 
Public Lands. 

CHAPTER XII. 

HOW THE PRESIDENT IS ELECTED. 

The primaries. State and national conventions. The Electoral 
College. 

Times of choosing electors. Counting the electoral vote. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI 



PART II. 



CHAPTER I. — State Goveknment. 

RELATIONS OF THE STATE TO THE FEDERAL 
GOVERNMENT. 

Powers given Nation or prohibited to the States, the States do 

not possess. All others they have. States are independent and 

equal. 

RELATION OF STATES TO EACH OTHER. 

Each State a separate, independent sovereignty ; has within 
itself all powers of government; no State subject to any other State. 

STATE POWERS OF GOVERNMENT. 

Are all powers subject to restrictions named; people of each 
State sovereign in matters of State government. 

FORM OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 

Essentially the same in all States; principle of local self govern- 
ment recognized in all constitutions; general plan one in which 
powers of government are exercised by representatives or by the 
people themselves ; powers separated and distributed ; plan of 
government, limitations upon exercise of powers, rights of the citizen 
— fixed and determined, and incorporated in written constitutions 
constituting the fundamental law of the State; these constitutions 
subject to no change but by the people, and then only in certain 
manner. 

Limitations upon powers may be different in different States. 
The colonies had each a constitution in its charter. Excepting two, 
all were swept away by the Revolution and others adopted. Consti- 
tutions of States admitted by Congress have been passed upon and 
approved by Congress previous to admission. Most of them have 
been framed under enabling acts of Congress — not so in case of 
Michigan. 



Xll CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

DIVISIONS OF THE STATE. 

For purposes of government territory is subdivided. Divisions 
called municipal corporations. These divisions, in Michigan, are 
counties, townships, school districts, cities, villages. 



CHAPTER II. — Michigan before Admission. 

Under French rule. British rule. Ordinance of 1787. Indiana 
Territory. Territory of Michigan. Michigan admitted as a State. 



CHAPTER III.— State Government. 

STATE CONSTITUTION. 

Is a written one ; form of government republican and represent- 
ative ; is the supreme law of the State ; defines form of State govern- 
ment, dividing powers and branches of it, limits powers of each 
department, defines and declares rights of inhabitants, limits power 
of the people to amend. Present constitution adopted, 1850. 
Amendments may be proposed in either house of legislature. If 
agreed to by two-thirds the members of each house, they are sub- 
mitted to the people for approval. If approved become a part of 
the constitution Question of general revision submitted every six- 
teen years, beginning 1866. Amendment takes effect at beginning of 
next year after adoption. Does not make specific grants of power ; 
limits powers which would otherwise be general and unlimited. 

Presumption in favor of legislative action, departments of 
government coordinate and independent. 

STATE LEGISLATURE. 

Two houses : Senate, House of Representatives. Meet in sepa- 
rate apartments, at capitol. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

Has one hundred members ; elected every two years ; hold office 
two years ; are elected by districts. Districts required to be of con- 
tiguous and convenient territory; to contain as nearly as may be the 
same number of inhabitants. 

A township or city cannot be divided in forming districts; 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. Xlll 

division made must continue until another enumeration ; enumera- 
tion taken every tenth year, beginning 1854; at first session of legis- 
lature after this enumeration, and after federal census, apportionment 
is made of representatives among counties ; counties entitled to more 
than one representative are divided by board of supervisors. Sena- 
tors and representatives must be citizens of United States and quali- 
fied voters in their respective districts; removal from district a 
vacating of office. Certain persons not eligible. Disqualifications. 
Privileges. Compensation. Impeachments. Officers of the House. 

SENATE. 

Thirty-two members ; elected by districts ; districts numbered ; 
districts in Michigan; officers of Senate; lieutenant-governor. 

Organization of legislature. Powers of legislature. Election of 
United States senators. Apportionment of representatives to Con- 
gress. Representative districts of Michigan. 



CHAPTER IV.— The Executive. 

Executive power vested in a governor. Qualifications. Duties. 
Appointments. 

OTHER STATE OFFICERS. 

Secretary of State ; Superintendent of Public Instruction ; State 
Treasurer; Commissioner of State Land Office; Auditor-General; 
Attorney-General. 

BOARDS AND APPOINTIVE OFFICERS. 

State Auditors ; State Board of Equalization ; Board of Regents ; 
Board of Agriculture ; Board of Education ; Board of State Canvass- 
ers; Board of Health; Board of Fish Commissions; Adjutant- 
General; State Librarian; Commissioner of Emigration; Commis- 
sioners of Railroads ; Bureau of Insurance. 



CHAPTER V.— The Judicial Power. 

THE JUDICIAL POWER. 

Vested in one Supreme Court, in Circuit and Probate Courts, 
and in Justices of the Peace ; Municipal Courts. 



XIV CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

WHAT A COURT IS. JURISDICTION. 

Territorial ; subject matter. General, inferior and special 
jurisdiction. 

SUPREME COURT. 

Terms; jurisdiction; duties; decisions; reports of decisions; 
officers of. 

CIRCUIT COURTS. 

Jurisdiction; officers; duties of; judicial circuit; terms of court ; 
county of Wayne. 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

Recorder's Courts. Probate Courts. Circuit Court Commis- 
sioners. Courts held by; where suits to be begun; how begun; 
summons ; warrants ; attachment ; replevin ; criminal jurisdiction. 

Something about proceedings in courts; juries. 



CHAPTER VI.— Counties. 

Division of the State ; for convenience both as determining limits 
for self-government of community, and for convenient administra- 
tion of general laws; are municipal corporations; eighty of them in 
Michigan; county seat; county officers; sheriff; clerk; treasurer; 
prosecuting attorney; register of deeds; coroners; county surveyor; 
drain commissioner ; notaries public. 

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. 

Powers of; auditing and allowing claims; legislature of the 
county; compensation; Wayne county auditors. 



CHAPTER VII.— Townships. 

Division ; origin ; purpose ; organization ; powers ; township 
action; township meeting; voting of taxes; other powers; super 
visor; township clerk; treasurer; township board; constables; com- 
missioner of highways; overseers of highways; school inspector; 
drain commissioner. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XV 



CHAPTER VIII.— School Districts. 

Like counties and townships, are bodies corporate; formed by 
division of townships and are numbered ; like other municipal cor- 
porations, are capable of suing and being sued, acquiring and hold- 
ing property. Organization; -school district meetings; powers. 
Officers ; moderator ; director ; assessor ; duties of each. 



CHAPTER IX.— Cities and Villages. 

Municipal corporations; created to meet wants of thickly settled 
communities; powers; charters; officers and their duties. 



CHAPTER X.— Elections. 

Subject properly treated under head of State government. It is 
in the State, privilege of voting is exercised. Subject to certain pro- 
visions in constitution of United States and acts of congress there- 
under, the States determine who may vote. The people actively and 
directly participate in government, by exercise of elective franchise. 
Not every person may vote; right conferred by sovereign authority; 
is held in trust by those to whom given, to be exercised for the good 
of the society ; is a valuable right ; exercise of the right by one not 
entitled, a wrong to the State; depriving one, entitled to the right, of 
its exercise, a wrong both to the State and individual; sovereign 
power may confer the right upon whom it pleases ; may recall the 
right. 

WHO MAY VOTE. 

Each State establishes rules for itself, though these are quite 
similar; citizenship of United States and State required everywhere; 
women and minors excluded everywhere from participating in gen- 
eral elections; idiots and lunatics; paupers in some States and per- 
sons under guardianship; other disqualifications. 

LIMITATIONS UPON STATE POWER. 

Art. XIV of amendments to the United States constitution; Art. 
XV of amendments to same. Michigan Constitution. 



XVI CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Art. VII; naturalization of aliens ; provisions governing the 
exercise of the right of elective franchise; the ballot; residence and 
registration ; times of holding elections ; notices of ; inspectors ; 
canvass of votes ; spring elections. 



CHAPTER XI.— Taxation. 

Money necessary to perpetuate and carry on the government. 
Right and power of sovereign authority to take from the people what 
is needed for public necessities, conceded; manner of doing this a 
question of governmental policy. So far as power is concerned, the 
State may tax what and whom it will ; lightly or heavily. 

Policy of taxation a legislative question ; taxation must be for 
public purposes ; property of citizens of other States, in Michigan, 
must be taxed on same basis as that belonging to citizens of the State ; 
corporations organized under laws of other States not citizens of those 
States within the meaning of this clause ; tax impairing obligations 
of contracts can not be laid ; State can not tax imports nor exports ; 
taxes laid must be uniform ; State can not tax agencies or property 
of United States ; powers of State municipalities to tax ; as to time 
and manner of payment and amounts to be paid, taxes must be fixed 
and certain. 

Michigan constitutional provisions ; what property \s taxed; 
exempt property; voting the tax ; when and by whom different taxes 
are voted ; purposes; apportioning the tax ; assessment roll; correct- 
ing roll ; review of roll ; equalization; tax roll; payment of taxes 
and return of delinquent taxes; sales of lands delinquent for taxes; 
tax-titles; requirements of tax laws to be strictly followed by taxing 
officers. 



CHAPTER XII. — Police Power op the States. 

What it is; its exercise; power exercised for precaution and pre- 
vention; limitations upon the power; penalties; taxes under police 
power; illustrations; licenses; illustrations. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



CHAPTER I. 

DEFINITIONS. 
State. 

A body politic, or society of men, united together 
for the purpose of promoting their mutual safety and 
advantage by the joint efforts of their combined 
strength. l 

The terms state and nation are frequently employed 
as meaning the same thing. But while a state may be 
a nation, and a nation may be divided into, or made up 
from several states, the term nation means more nearly, 
People or Race. 

The term, however, is used indiscriminately for des- 
ignating either a principality, like some of the German 
states, or the Nation itself. Of course it is applied to 
the American States. 

Constitution. 

The fundamental law of a state, directing the prin- 
ciples upon which the government is founded, and 
regulating the exercise of the sovereign powers, 
directing to what bodies or persons those powers be 
confided and the manner of their exercise. 2 

1 Cooley, Constitutional Limitations, 1 ; Stoiy on the Constitution, 
§207; Bouvier Law Diet., "State"; Vattel b, 1, c 1 §1. 

2 Bouvier Law Diet. •* Constitution." 



8 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

That body of rules and maxims in accordance with 
which the powers of sovereignty are habitually exer- 
cised. l 

The constitution is to the state what it is to a society 
of persons. In our day one of the first matters to 
receive attention, where a number of individuals asso- 
ciate themselves permanently, is a constitution ; a 
general organic law for the government of the society. 

The term is frequently used with a meaning more 
or less limited than the o ne conveyed in the above defi- 
nitions, but it has come to mean, more and more, the 
fundamentals of a free gove rnment ; the first or founda- 
tion law ; the organic law. 

How Constitutions are Formed. 

Constitutions may be accumulated or enacted. That 
is, the constitution of a country may be the mass of 
rules, customs, common law — written and unwritten — 
and decisions of the courts, which have accumulated 
and have been acted upon by the government, respected 
and obeyed by individuals, until they have come to be 
regarded as a part of the system of government. Or, 
a constitution may be enacted as a fundamental law of 
the body politic, either by the monarch or by the 
people ; by the sovereign power. 

May be Written or Unwritten. 

Constitutions may be written or unwritten. The 
constitution of Great Britain is an accumulated and 
unwritten one. Those of the United States, both 
federal and state, are enacted and vjritten. 

1 Cooley, Const. Limitations, 2 



DEFINITIONS. 



Their Force and Effect, 



In the United States constitutions are the written 
instruments agreed upon and adopted by the people of 
the United States or of the state, and are absolute rules 
of action and decision for all departments and officers 
of government, upon all questions covered by them. 
Any rule or act of any department of government, or 
of any officer of government, or even of the people 
themselves in opposition to them, will be altogether 
void. l 

So we say, when a law is passed by the legislature, 
federal or state, opposed to the fundamental law or con- 
stitution, that such a law is in excess of legislative 
authority and therefore unconstitutional and void. 

In this respect mainly lies the difference in effect 
between an accumulated and an enacted constitution. 
In a country where the complete sovereignty is, by the 
system of government, vested in the same power or body 
which enacts the ordinary laws, any law, being an exer- 
cise of sovereign power, cannot be void, but if in conflict 
with any existing constitutional principle, must have the 
effect to change or abrogate such principle, instead of 
being nullified by it. This is so in Great Britain. The 
declared will of Parliament is the final law. There con- 
stitutional questions are addressed to the Parliament or 
to the people. Here, after the legislature has passed 
upon such a question, there is generally, when it is 
attempted to put the will of the legislature in operation, 
a right of appeal to the courts. " For the will of the 
people, as declared in the constitution, is the final law, 
and the will of the legislature is only law where it is in 

1 Cooley, Const. Lim., 3. 



10 CIVIL GOVEBNMENT. 

harmony with, or at least is not opposed to, that con- 
trolling instrument, which governs the legislative body 
equally with the private citizen." ' 

Sovereignty. 

All political or civil government, presupposes a com- 
munity of people united for the purposes of govern- 
ment, and a sovereign or supreme power residing 
somewhere. It may reside in the people themselves ; 
it may be in a person, or body of persons, having 
sole and only control, and exercising the sovereign 
power. As applied to states, sovereignty imports and 
means the supreme power; a power above which there is 
no power. A state is called a sovereign state when this 
power resides within itself. 2 Usually the sovereignty of 
a state extends to and embraces all the subjects of gov- 
ernment within the territorial limits of the state. Thus, 
France, Russia, Great Britain, and the United States, 
are sovereign states. In each the authority of govern- 
ment extends to all matters of government within the 
limits of the state. Neither of them is controlled in any 
matter of government by a power without or outside 
itself. None of them has any political superior. 

Powers exercised by the sovereign authority. — We have 
said that the sovereign authority has all authority. The 
power to make and to repeal laws ; the power to enforce 
the laws ; to punish violations of laws ; the power to di- 
rect, control, and carry on the government, and to provide 
the necessary political machinery and agencies for that 
purpose — all these are powers exercised by what we call 
the sovereign power or authority. 

1 Cooley, Const. Lim., 3. 
2 Cooley, Const. Lim., 1. 



DEFINITIONS. 11 

Law. 

A law is defined to be a rule of action, prescribed by 
a superior power ; a rule or method of action ; a rule 
of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power of a 
state. 1 

There are many definitions of the word law, with a 
more or less extended meaning. In the sense in which 
the word is important here, it refers to the rule or rules 
of human conduct and action, in communities — munici- 
pal law — which Blackstone defines as "a rule of civil 
conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state, 
commanding what is right and prohibiting what is 
wrong." 

But it is not individual conduct, alone, which is 
meant when the term civil conduct is used. Nor does 
the rule necessarily mean one prescribed, or enacted, by 
the legislature. A rule of conduct may be said to be 
prescribed, when it is recognized by authority as a rule. 

" The aggregate of those rules and principles of con- 
duct which the governing power in a community recog- 
nizes as the rules and principles which it will enforce or 
sanction, and according to which it will regulate, limit, 
or protect the conduct of its members," is one of the 
definitions of law given in Bouvier. As if the question 
were asked, What is the law of the state ? meaning the 
term in the concrete sense, the foregoing is a good 
answer. "The law of the land," is an expression often 
seen and heard. It is seen in most of the American 
constitutions, and means not only the written or statute 

1 See 1 Blackstone's Commentaries, § II ; 1 Stephen's Com- 
mentaries, 25. See, also, Montesquieu, Spirit of the Laws, b 1, 
Chap. 1. 



12 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

law, but the unwritten law or common law, customs and 
usages, of the land. 

For instance, the law of the land in the United States 
may mean : 1. The unwritten or common law and the 
statute law of England, so far as applicable here, in 
force at the time the independence of the colonies was 
declared. 2. The constitutions or fundamental laws of 
the United States and of the States. 3. Treaties made 
by authority, between the United States and foreign 
States and Nations. 4. The unwritten common laws or 
customs, which have obtained in various parts of this 
country, which are respected and obeyed by individuals 
and enforced by the courts. 5. The legislative enact- 
ments or statute laws. 1 

u Law, in its broad meaning, is the aggregate of legal 
rules and principles, as distinguished from anj^ particu- 
lar rule or principle. No one statute, nor all statutes, 
constitutes the law of the state ; for the maxims of the 
courts and the regulations of municipal bodies, as well 
as, to some extent, the universal principles of ethics, go 
to make up the body of the law. It includes principles, 
which rest in the common sense of justice and right, as 

1 " By the law of the land is more clearly intended the general law, 
a law which hears before it condemns ; which proceeds upon inquiry, 
and renders judgment only after trial The meaning is that every 
citizen shall hold his life, liberty, property and immunities, under 
the protection of the general rules which govern society;" Web- 
ster's argument in Dartmouth College case, 4 Wheaton, 518. 
See Story on the Constitution, Vol. 3, 264, 661; Cooley, Const. Lim., 
441; Murray's Lessees a. Hoboken, 18 Howard, 272. "The consti- 
tutional provisions, that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, 
or property, without due process of law mean more than a mere leg- 
islative enactment. They restrict the legislature so that it cannot 
reach the life, liberty, or property of the individual, except when he 
is convicted of crime, or when the sacrifice of his property is de- 
manded by a just regard of the public welfare:" — Atchison, etc. 
R R. Co. v. Baty, 6 Nebraska, 37. 



DEFINITIONS. 13 

well as positive rules or regulations, which rest in ordi- 
nance. It is the aggregate of the rules and principles 
only which the governing power in the community recog- 
nizes, because that power, whether it be deemed as 
residing in a monarch, an aristocracy, or in the people at 
large, is the source of the authority and the sanction of 
those rules and principles." 1 

Space here will not admit of any classification of 
different kinds of laws. The term statute will be here- 
after defined. We read of the law of nations, which is 
the aggregate of the rules, customs and usages govern- 
ing intercourse between and among nations, and to 
a large extent between their citizens. A penal law 
is one which inflicts a penalty for its violation. That 
part of a law which inflicts a penalty for its violation, or 
a reward for its observance, is called a sanction. 
Sanctions are of two kinds, civil and penal. A pros- 
pective law or statute, is one the application of which is 
to cases arising after its enactment. A retrospective law, 
is one which has an effect upon or applies to persons or 
things in connection with or reference to past events or 
conduct. These are also called retroactive laws. 

If the effect of such a law is to take away vested 
rights it is so far void. See definition of ex post facto 
law. 

Statute. 

A law established by the act of the legislative power. 
An act of the legislature. The written will of the legis- 
lature solemnly expressed according to the forms 
necessary to constitute it the law of the state. 2 

The acts of bodies delegated with local legislative 

1 Bouvier, Law Diet. "Law." 
'Bouvier, "Statute." 



14 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

powers, or the power to make laws or some laws for the 
locality, as common councils of cities, boards of trustees 
of villages, township boards, boards of supervisors, etc. , 
are not called statutes. Ordinance, or resolution, or a 
similar term is usually applied to them. 

We have already seen that, in this country, a statute, 
opposed to the constitution, state or national, is void. 
It may be void as opposed to the express provisions of 
the constitution or as opposed to its spirit. Courts, 
however, though exercising a proper authority and clear 
duty, in declaring unconstitutional a statute which is 
plainly so, will only make such a declaration when 
the question is raised, and argued, and when the uncon- 
stitutionality clearly appears. The acts of the legis- 
lature will always, if possible and reasonable, receive a 
construction which will leave them in force. Later 
on in this work it will appear how the legislature in this 
country is itself subject to constitutional restraints in the 
manner of enacting laws. The courts have authority to 
go behind the act itself, to ascertain whether in its 
passage, constitutionally prescribed forms or methods 
have been followed. 

Constitutions in different states prescribe different 
rules concerning legislation. One common provision, 
for illustration, in state constitutions, is that an act of 
the legislature or statute shall embrace but one object, 
which shall be stated in the title of the act. The object 
of this is apparent. The title itself calls attention at once 
to the subject of the proposed legislation, and there can 
be no hidden or secret legislation pushed through under 
cover of that title. It leaves each subject of legislation, 
proposed, to stand or fall upon its merits, and does 
not allow an urgent and proper legislative act, to drag 



DEFINITIONS. 15 

along with it an improper one. There is no such pro- 
vision as is referred to, in the Constitution of the United 
States. Several times therefore we have seen a rider, 
as it is called, embracing a provision obnoxious to the 
majority of Congress, tacked upon and carried through 
by a bill appropriating money urgently needed by the 
departments of the government, the alternative being a 
rejection of the whole measure. 

Other common provisions require that a bill shall be 
read a certain number of times before final passage ; shall 
be assented to by a majority of all the legislative body ; 
that the vote shall be entered in the journal of the body 
voting ; that legislation shall be considered and acted 
on publicly ; that no new legislation shall be proposed 
after a certain number of days in the session ; that the 
proceedings of special sessions shall be limited to sub- 
jects mentioned in the call of the officer having authority 
to convene the legislative body. 

Statute law becomes known to the people by being 
printed and distributed. History tells us in what man- 
ner, in earlier times, the will of the law-maker became 
known to the people. It is said that Caligula wrote his 
laws in very small characters and then hung them upon 
high pillars, the better to ensnare the people. In Eng- 
land, formerly, and in the American colonies, many 
acts of parliament and royal proclamations were made 
known by being read in churches and in other public 
assemblages. 

The constitutions of states generally specify at what 
time an act shall take effect. Since it is a rule that 
ignorance of the law does not excuse a person, it is 
necessary and proper that some opportunity be afforded 
the people to learn what the law-makers have enacted. 



16 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

An act of Congress takes effect the day upon which it 
is approved by the President. 1 

By the common law, statutes took effect by relation 
back to the first day of the session at which they were 
enacted. The manifest injustice of this rule led to 
an act of parliament, passed in the 33d year of the reign 
of George III, by which it was provided that, unless 
otherwise ordered, statutes should take effect from 
the day of receiving the royal assent. 

There are many rules which have been adopted, by 
which statutes are construed, or their meaning and 
application arrived at. 

Chapters ten to fifteen, inclusive, of Bishop on 
Criminal Law, discusses the principles of interpretation 
of Criminal Statutes. Chapter seven of Cooley on Con- 
stitutional Limitations, discusses the circumstances 
under which a legislative act may be declared unconsti- 
tutional, and the subject "Sources of Municipal Law," 
in the first volume of Kent's Commentaries, is largely 
devoted to this subject. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is a state? Tell the different meanings in 
which the word is used? 

Write an abstract of the definition given. 

Define constitution f What is its force ? What is 
the object or purpose of a constitution ? Has the 
word more than one meaning? What has it come 
to mean ? How are constitutions formed ? What do 
we understand by an accumulated constitution ? Enacted 
constitution? Written? Unwritten? Force in the 
United States and States? In England? What force 

1 See 1 Kent's Commentaries, 455 ; Matthews v. Zane, 7 Wheaton, 
164; The Brig Ann, 1 Gailison, 6& 



DEFINITIONS. 17 

in this country has a law opposed to the constitution ? 
Write an abstract of the definition given of consti- 
tution. 

What is understood by sovereign power, or sover- 
eignty ? As applied to states what does the term import ? 
What is a sovereign state ? How far does the sovereign 
power of a state or nation extend as to subjects? Terri- 
torially i What powers are exercised by the sovereign 
authority ? 

Write an abstract of the definition given. 

Law, means what? What is a law? Give the 
several definitions and the meaning of each ? What 
is municipal law ? What is the law of any given state ? 
What is understood by "the law of the land " ? What 
may it mean in the United States ? Is it restricted to 
acts of the legislature ? Is the constitution of a state, a 
law \ What is the law of nations ? A penal law? A 
sanction ? A prospective law ? A retrospective law ? 
Retroactive law? What is the effect of a retroactive 
law \ Is it restricted in its effect ? By what ? 

Write an abstract of the definition given of law. 

Give the definition of statute? Ordinance? What 
effect has the constitution upon statutes? By what 
authority are statutes enacted ? What authority decides 
finally upon the question of the constitutionality of a 
statute? Give some of the constitutional restrictions 
imposed upon the forms to be used in enacting statutes? 
Give the reasons for these restrictions ? How do the 
people learn what laws are passed by the legislature? 
How were the laws formerly made known ? When 
does an act of Congress take effect ? An act of the 
English Parliament ? 

Give a written abstract of the definition of statute. 
B l* 



18 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



CHAPTEE II. 

CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 
Government Generally. 

To govern is to rule, regulate, influence. Govern- 
ment supposes or suggests, from a mere statement of 
the word, first, authority somewhere ; second, a person 
or persons, or subjects upon which the authority is 
to act. 

In the ordinary sense or use of the word, as applied 
to individuals, government begins at home, in the 
family. The child first learns, there, what authority is 
and what obedience. The teaching is continued in the 
school, and the child passes along into the world, a 
member of the community, an individual in the body 
politic or state in which he lives, conscious that from 
the beginning he has been governed. The commands 
given have come from the father and mother and from 
the teacher. So far as government was concerned, his 
intercourse with other members of the family put upon 
him certain duties to be performed. These have been 
duties to do and not to do, acts. In the doing and not 
doing as required, he has been respecting and recogniz- 
ing the rights of others, and under the same authority 
and obligations others have respected and recognized 
his rights. 

Some of the duties imposed have been for the welfare 
of the family as a family, of which he was a part, 
perhaps to contribute by his labor, to some extent, to 
the family support. 



GOVERNMENT GENERALLY. 19 

The family is a little state. A person comes into 

the state as he does into the family, by being born 

into it. 

Government a Necessity. 

There is no conception to be had of men living other- 
wise than in communities, nor of communities of men 
without government. Government is as essential in the 
community as it is in the family. Men were made to 
live together, with wants rendering them mutually 
dependent upon each other. The community is a num- 
ber of families, and the state or nation a number of 
communities. 

It is of course possible to conceive of a man, by 
accident or because of a warped or diseased mind, living 
solitary and apart from his fellows. On an unpeopled 
island or in some wilderness he might live for years, 
under no restraints except natural ones, governed and 
controlled by no human laws. But this is simply a 
removing away from the natural order of things. Let 
other men intrude upon his solitude, and a community, 
the smallest, be formed. Instantly, each is under some 
restraints. Certain rules governing conduct, and 
respecting the rights of others are regarded by each 
member of the community. Without them the com- 
munity would cease to exist. Increase the community, 
and the mutual dependency of its members increases, and 
becomes more far reaching. The government of the 
society will grow with the society. Society and govern- 
ment are both grown institutions, and have grown and 
do grow together. 

The social state is natural, and therefore a necessity, 
and grows. Government arises from necessity out of 
the social state, and grows with it. 



20 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Civil Government. 

It is the subject of government as applied to commu- 
nities that we are concerned about. And not only as 
applied to communities or states, but to communities 
the members of which are engaged in those pursuits 
which are natural to mankind. A band of robbers or a 
purely military organization could be called a commu- 
nity ; both exist or have existed, and all were under 
government. But the community of which we speak, 
is the community which men seem naturally to form ; 
the community in which the family is the unit. The 
objects of such a community are those of the social or 
civil state, and the government of them is civil govern- 
ment. In such a community, we have seen, govern- 
ment is a necessity. 

Why the frame or characteristics of government in 
any given community should be as they are, can perhaps 
be sufficiently answered. Certain natural peculiarities 
and characteristics of the people, soil, climate, industries 
followed —these may largely account for the kind of 
government. 

There have been an endless variety of governments. 
It is said, however, that whatever form the government 
may take, "the fundamental idea, however rudely con- 
ceived, is always the protection of society and its mem- 
bers, security of property and person, the administration 
of justice therefor, and the united efforts of society to 
furnish the means to authority to carry out its objects." ' 

What Civil Government Imports. 
When civil government, therefore, is spoken about, 
we understand: First, the existence of such a commu- 
'Bouvier's Law Dictionary, "Government." 



WHAT CIVIL GOVERNMENT IMPORTS. 21 

nity as has been described; second, that there is a system 
of rules, usages and customs, more or less complex, by 
which the community and the members of it are gov- 
erned, and. third, that there is somewhere authority, not 
only to make rules and regulations for governing, but 
to change, repeal and enforce them. 

But it seems that these are common to all governments 
of the kind. They give no idea of the plan or form of 
government. Because, these rules may be few or many, 
may be fixed and established, or subject to constant 
change. The authority of government may be in the 
hands of one man, a body of men, or in the community 
at large. The authority may be within or outside of the 
community itself. Rights may, or may not, be defined. 

It is the difference in these matters or in some of 
them which allows a classification of governments. 1 

Definition of Government. 

It is, perhaps, well here to define the sense in which 
the term government will be used and is properly used 
in this book. As commonly used it has different mean- 
ings, depending upon the connection in which it is used. 
The State itself, or body politic, is called, sometimes, 
the Government. It is applied to the administration, or 
body of persons in whose hands is the official power and 
direction of affairs. But, strictly, the State is the 
society of individuals, and the Government is the au- 
thority of the society. It is the aggregate of all the 
institutions by which society or the State makes and 
enforces the rules necessary to the welfare of the society 
and its members. 

'For a very interesting classification of governments, see Bou- 
vier's Law Dictionary, " Government." 



22 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Different Forms of Government. 

It is not in the plan of this work to give any classifi- 
cation of the different forms of governments, nor to dis- 
cuss in any way the subject of the origin and growth of 
government. 

As leading naturally to an understanding of the sys- 
tem and frame of our own government, it may be said 
that the tendency of communities has been and is, to 
adopt or take on a form of government in which the 
individual member of the community has the largest 
possible voice and part in governmental affairs, consistent 
with the proper administration of affairs ; in which cer- 
tain principles and rules are followed ; in which the 
principal recognized rights of the individual are defined 
and fixed by laws, and in which the powers of govern- 
ment are separated and distributed into different hands. 
In other words, the tendency is towards what we call 
free government. The object to be attained is liberty, 
civil and political. All this implies, of course, a moving 
away from systems of government in which these things 
were not embodied, a discarding of different methods 
and forms which before existed. If present forms and 
characteristics of what we call free government are 
approved and seem to be proper and necessary and for 
the good of the society and the individual, then, in 
noticing them and their advantages, the mind may dwell 
upon the state of society as it would exist without them, 
and some idea be gained of what progress has been 
made. 

With what all Government must Concern Itself. 

When we say that one object and end of government 

is the protection of the governed, it is not meant simply 



WITH WHAT GOVERNMENT MUST CONCERN ITSELF. 23 

th.it mischievous intruders shall be kept out of the 
society or state, nor the repelling of armed invasion. 
This is, of course, included in the meaning, and in earlier 
times states were kept constantly agitated upon the sub- 
ject of outside invasion. There is little of this now 
among 1 civilized nations. 

Nothing has had so much to do with the change in 
this respect as the fostering of the natural relations of 
the family in communities. Following necessarily upon 
the adoption of this relation came, and comes, the nat- 
ural desire to protect and care for the family, in sickness 
and in health, and to acquire a competenc}' in property. 
But if a man could now only acquire and hold so much 
property as he could watch and guard, subject all the 
time to have it taken away by some one when his vigi- 
lance was relaxed, society, civilized society, could not 
exist. So, as has been already said, while society has 
been growing into this state, government has grown 
with the society. 

Therefore the protection to the governed to be afforded 
by government, means the protection of individual rights 
in the community itself. This has come to be what 
government in modern times is principally concerned 
with. The intermingling in the social state gives rise 
to a multitude of duties owed by each individual to 
others general^, to some others particularly. 

Some of these duties are to respect what we shall 
term natural rights, others are imposed by government, 
and the duties imposed give rise at once to rights in 
others to have the duties performed. 

A right not recognized by government, or the au- 
thority of the society, is of no account or conse- 
quence. 



24 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

It is only recognized rights which are available. 

However proper an asserted right may seem to be, if 
it cannot be enforced, it is useless and not a right, 
except, perhaps, in the view of morals. This is easily 
comprehended and should be remembered. 

It is therefore the great duty of government to con- 
cern itself with rights and their definitions. Judge 
Cooley, in his work on Torts, says: " Every government 
must concern itself with the definition of rights and the 
providing of adequate security for their enjoyment. If 
a government is properly and justly administered, this 
will be its chief business ; and this in its true sense con 
stitutes civil liberty." 

Powers of Government. 

We say that the powers of government are all powers 
necessary to carry out the essential objects of govern- 
ment, some of which have just been mentioned. But 
these powers admit of an easy classification or separa- 
tion. There must be, and always is, a law-making 
power. This includes, of necessity, the power to change 
and repeal laws. A power to hear and determine ques- 
tions arising upon the application of law, — to administer 
the law. A power to execute the law. 

Making, amending and repealing laws, we call the 
exercise of legislative power. Applying or administer- 
ing the law is the exercise of judicial power, and enforc- 
ing the laws, the exercise of executive power. 

It is the difference in the manner of the exercise of 
these powers, which are inherent in all government, 
which constitutes the difference between free government 
and that more or less despotic. 



POWERS OF GOVERNMENT. 25 

Distribution of the Powers of Government. 

The manner of the exercise of the powers of govern- 
ment, in theory at least, depends largely, if not entirely, 
so far as the question of free government is concerned, 
upon the distribution of those powers. To illustrate: 
Suppose the authority of government vested in one man 
— the king. He, exercising these powers, makes laws at 
his will, publishes them or keeps them secret, applies 
them in person, and executes them to suit himself. His 
punishments for violations of law are not known until 
he pronounces sentence. 

He may pardon whom he pleases. He may suspend 
the operation of a law to please a favorite, or make a 
law, after an act has been committed, to punish an 
eneiny. 

It is evident that under such a reign civil liberty 
could not exist. The successor of such a ruler, on the 
contrary, might publish a code of laws, equitable, just, 
and calculated in every way to secure the liberties of 
the subject. He might judge fairly in the cases brought 
before him, and impartially and honestly execute the 
laws. Under such a ruler civil liberty would exist. 

But no security would remain to the subject that this 
state of things would continue. A change might come 
over the ruler and the whole code of laws be repealed. 
He might insist upon hearing and deciding cases with- 
out reference to the established rules, and punish offences 
in such manner as occurred to him. Again, the ruler 
might not himself respect private rights at all, but override 
in his own actions rules which he compelled the subject 
to obey. Such a government as has been described has 
not been an unfrequent event. The security of person 
2 



26 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

and property in a whole empire has depended upon the 
temper and acquirements of the son of a king. 

History tells us how enlightened communities have 
gradually shaken off such a state of things. 

It has been done by distributing the powers of govern- 
ment, and setting bounds to authority. The setting of 
limits to authority is as much a part of governing, as 
much an act of authority, as any other. 

Few of these changes for the better, in government, 
have been suggested or instituted by the ruler. They 
have come from the people. Many remain as the results 
of revolution, in which the people governed rose against 
the established government, and only submitted when 
concessions were made to them. 

It is not difficult to understand how, if the law-making 
power is separated from the law-enforcing power, and 
the two powers reposed, for exercise, in different persons 
or bodies, the chances are better that a good government 
will exist. And if separate and distinct from both these 
is kept the power which we call the judicial power, the 
power which applies the laws to particular cases, another 
element of good government is added. But if the ruler 
or executive was not subject to the laws, or if he, at will, 
appointed and displaced judges, and overawed the legis- 
lative authority, order and security was not certain. 

So we find that as communities have grown and men 
have become enlightened, the object and aim of men has 
been to make this distribution of power more certain, 
and the exercise of each more independent of the other. 

Political Liberty. 

In accomplishing such results, the citizen, the gov- 
erned, has necessarily asserted himself more and more. 



POLITICAL LIBERTY. 27 

The voice of the community has demanded and enforced 
progress, until, in good governments, in free govern- 
ments, the political liberty of the citizen has become a 
right. Political liberty has been said to consist in an 
effective participation by the individual in the making of 
the laws. 

If, when political liberty is enjoyed by the subject, 
civil liberty and a free government in its full meaning is 
not enjoyed, the citizen must be at fault. 

England has been the country in which the warfare 
for free government was begun, carried on and finished. 
English constitutional history will inform the American 
student by what means and after what time, a form of 
government in which the people participated became 
possible. 

The young American citizen of to-day finds a free 
government, in which he is allowed directly or indirectly 
to participate. A plan of government in which the 
powers are separated, distributed, independent. The 
continuance of this made certain by written federal and 
state constitutions. The same constitutions setting 
bounds to authority, defining the principal rights of the 
citizen, and themselves beyond any change except in 
certain prescribed ways. The sovereign people have 
delegated portions of the sovereign power to depart- 
ments and officers of government. The power to name 
the persons who shall exercise these powers is at stated 
intervals returned to the people. The will of the major- 
ity, lawfully expressed, is the supreme law. Powers 
not delegated remain in the people. 

It should be borne in mind, in the study of any plan 
or form of government, that the sovereign power, 
residing somewhere in the state, can do what it will. 



28 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

There is nothing over or above it. It can make such 
laws as it chooses, in such manner as it chooses, and 
enforce them in its own way. It can borrow money of 
its citizens and of foreign states and citizens, and pay or 
not as it thinks fit. It can, in the plenitude of legislative 
power, make north south, and change all commonly 
known standards of value, weight and measure. It can 
confiscate the property of the citizen, or give it to his 
neighbor; make murder a misdemeanor, and assault and 
battery a felony. It can establish a form of religion, 
and punish with death all who worship in any other 
form. 

Of course, you say, that is not possible. Practically 
it is not. Theoretically it is. Practically it has been 
true, in effect, at least. 

In this country the people are sovereign. Whenever 
a majority of them shall be of the same mind, what may 
they not do ? 

If we have a good government, its plan and charac- 
teristics should be understood in order to be perpetuated. 
If changes seem necessary, they should not be attempted 
by those ignorant of what they would remedy. The 
idea that the state, the nation, is something apart from 
the citizen, a thing to be libelled, resisted and plundered, 
is a mistaken idea. The state is yourself. It is gov- 
erned wisely or not as you allow. Steal from it, and 
you put your hand in your own pocket. Cheat it, and 
you defraud yourself. More than this. The sins in 
governing, committed by the fathers, are often only 
visited upon the heads of the children. 

QUESTIONS. 

To govern is what? What does the word govern- 



QUESTIONS. 29 

ment suggest or pre-suppose? Write or give an ab- 
stract of your own idea of government in the general 
sense ? Where does government begin ? What com- 
parison between the family and the state ? How does 
one become a person in the state ? 

Can men live without government ? Tell what you 
can about this? What is civil government? What is 
the fundamental idea of government ? What does civil 
government import ? Give definition of government ? 
What is the tendency of communities in regard to 
government ? What is the object to be attained ? With 
what must government concern itself? 

What do we mean by protection of the governed? 
When is a right valuable ? The great duty of govern- 
ment? What general powers has the government? 
What is meant by distribution of the powers of govern- 
ment ? In what way connected with the question of 
free government? Illustrate, 

What is meant by setting limits to authority ? What 
changes have contributed to establish free government ? 
From what source have these come ? What is the effect 
of the distribution of the power of government ? What 
evils are probable if not separated ? What do you 
understand by civil liberty ? By political liberty ? In 
what country has the struggle for free government been 
prominent ? Give a plan, general, of the government in 
the American states. 

Sovereign authority is what ? What may it do in 
government? Where is the sovereign power in this 
country ? Tell what you can of this ? Write an abstract 
of this chapter. 



30 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



CHAPTEE III. 

GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The term, United States, implies at once a union of 
states, and the Government of the United States, the 
government of that union. It will be learned, as this 
study progresses, that the theory of government in the 
United States, is that of local self-government. That is, 
the United States is made up of states, the states of 
counties, the counties of towns, and the towns in many 
states, of school and road districts, or other small 
divisions. These names all represent territorial divis- 
ions. They also represent the extent of communities 
for some purposes of government. 

So far as is possible, in each of these political subdi- 
visions, the affairs of the locality are attended to by the 
people of the locality. In their local affairs, the people 
govern themselves. In one sense of the term each is a 
little sovereignty ; a number of these form a sovereignty 
a little larger, and so on until we have a state. 

The first thing to be learned of the Government of 
the United States is, that it lets alone local affairs. That 
it employs itself with those matters and subjects of gov- 
ernment which are in their character national. 

The second thing to learn is, that the powers of the 
General Government, or Government of the United 
States, are named, or enumerated, and, while the powers 
properly belonging to it are full and ample, the theory 



GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 31 

is that all other powers and subjects of government 
belong to the states and the people. 

A third thing to learn is, that the powers exercised 
by the General Government are named and limited in 
a written constitution, adopted by the people of the 
states. It has no power or authority over any subject 
not named in the constitution. 

So the people of the states, live in a certain sense 
under two governments, that of the state and of the 
United States. 

To illustrate, there was not in the beginning of our 
national existence a large territory, the people of which 
existed under one general form of government ; the 
divisions of the territory into states was not by that 
general authority, and for the purposes of convenient 
government, as a state is now divided in smaller districts 
for such purposes. On the contrary, the then inhabited 
territory was divided into a number of colonies, and 
these colonies had separate and independent existences. 
Because the people of the colonies were deprived in a 
measure of political liberty, and not allowed, as they 
wished, to govern themselves in all local affairs, they 
declared their independence of Great Britain, and the 
war of the Revolution was the result. 

Before the Revolution, whatever power was exercised 
over the colonies, in common, was exercised by the 
Crown or Parliament of Great Britain. When war 
broke out, the Congress of 1775, assumed the powers of 
a general government, acting in all matters affecting the 
general welfare of the colonies. 

It conducted the war, declared the independency of 
the colonies, made treaties and assumed to itself general 
direction and control of general public affairs. 



32 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

It was a government springing up of necessity. It 
had no defined authority ; no power to enforce obedience 
to its orders. 

It was composed of delegates from the different colo- 
nies. Those delegates received their instructions from 
the conventions sending them. The people ratified the 
acts of that congress by obeying them. In order to 
define the powers of the General Government, the Arti- 
cles of Confederation were adopted. 

The powers given by those articles were not adequate, 
in many respects, and a Constitutional Convention was 
called. It framed a constitution which went into effect 
in 1789. ! 

It is seen, therefore, how of necessity and for the 
mutual, organized protection of all, a number of inde- 
pendent colonies, united in establishing a general or 
national government. 

1 This convention was composed of delegates from all the original 
thirteen states, excepting Rhode Island. It assembled at Phila- 
delphia, May 14, 1787. On the 17th of September following, a form 
of constitution was agreed upon. It was sent by the congress to the 
legistatures of the several states, and was by them submitted to con- 
ventions of delegates chosen in each state by the people. The 
several state conventions ratified the Constitution. Ratification by 
nine states was sufficient to establish it among those states ratifying 
it. It was ratified in Delaware, December 7, 1787 ; Pennsylvania, 
December 12, 1787; New Jersey, December 18, 1787; Georgia, Janu- 
ary 2, 1788; Connecticut, January 9, 1788; Massachusetts, February 
6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South Carolina, May 23, 1788; New 
Hampshire, June 21, 1788 ; Virginia, June 26, 1788; New York, July 
26, 1788; North Carolina, November 21, 1789; Rhode Islaud, May 29, 
1790. July 2, 1788, the ratification by the ninth state was read to 
Congress, and an act was at once prepared for putting the Constitu- 
tion into effect, and on September 13, 1788, Congress appointed days 
for choosing electors, and resolved that the first Wednesday in March 
then next should be the time and New York the place, for beginning 
under the new Constitution. Washington took the oath of office 
April 30, 1789. The Constitution became the law of the land March 
4, 1789. 



GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 

But to this Government were, as has been stated, only 
given national powers. 

Thus we have the Government of the United States 
attending to, supervising, controlling and sovereign in 
all affairs of general national importance, and state gov- 
ernments, entirely independent in most matters of state 
concern, attending to, controlling and sovereign in all 
affairs arising within the respective state borders over 
which the General Government was not given expressly, 
or by necessary implication, control. ! 

The general history of the condition of people in the 
colonies and of the proceedings from the first to organize 
and establish the Government of the United States, is 
interesting as explaining in a measure the reasons for 
government in any and every community of people. 
Specific reasons may differ, but the general reason is the 
same. 

From what has been already said, it will be seen how 
important an instrument is the Constitution of the United 
States. 

The carrying out and exercising of the powers therein 
given, is the business of our general government, and is 
the civil government of the United States. 

QUESTIONS. 

What does the term United States at once imply ? 

What is the theory of government in the United 

States ? 

'The student is referred to the " Federalist" for the arguments 
advanced in favor of the adoption of the Constitution of the United 
States, and in support of the general plan and system of government 
therein provided. A reading of it will not only be generally valuable, 
as having been written while the subject was under discussion in the 
various state legislatures, but as showing with what jealousy the 
people, individually and as states, examined every provision delega- 
ting powers to the 'General Government. 

c 



3J: CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

What do you understand by local self-government ? 

What is first to be learned of the Government of the 
United States ? 

With what does it concern itself ? 

The second thing to learn ? What do you understand 
by this ? 

A third thing to learn ? 

What does the Constitution of the United States do ? 
Is it written or unwritten ? Have you ever read it ? 

Do the people of the state live under more than one 
government ? In what sense ? Give the illustration in 
the text in your own way. 

What caused the Revolutionary War ? 

Before the Revolution, by whom or what power was 
general authority exercised over the colonies ? After the 
war broke out ? What was and is the necessity for a 
general government ? 

Tell about the Articles of Confederation. Did you 
ever read them ? The Constitution ? How and by 
whom framed ? How adopted 't When ? When did it 
go into operation ? What powers are given the General 
Government? Write an abstract of the chapter. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE TERRITORY OVER WHICH THE AUTHORITY 
OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT EXTENDS. 

The authority of the Government of the United 
States, exercised within constitutional limits, extends 
over the whole territory embraced within the several 
states and territories. 



AUTHORITY OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT. 35 

It has jurisdiction also and authority over the District 
of Columbia, and over certain small divisions of territory 
acquired by cession or purchase, and used for navy yards, 
forts, arsenals, lighthouses, and the like. 

But the authority exercised over that territory within 
and that without the borders and jurisdiction of a state, 
is very different in extent. We shall learn, further on, 
something concerning the authority given to the General 
Government with relation to the states and their inhabit- 
ants. 

Over all territory outside the jurisdiction of a state, 
the authority of the General Government is supreme 

In the District of Columbia Congress governs directly, 
attending to and legislating f or a u the internal affairs of 
the District. 

In the navy yards, arsenals, and like places, few 
people will be found not actively engaged in the service 
of the United States. 

It is usual, when a state sells or gives a part of its 
territory to the United States, for the purposes desig- 
nated, to provide that process from the state courts may 
be served therein. Otherwise, persons committing 
crimes within a state against its laws, and fleeing to one 
of these localities, would be safe from arrest. 

In the territories, the Congress of the United States 
prescribes in what manner the people shall be governed. 

The people are not entitled to self government, ex- 
cept as Congress grants the right. Over them exclusive 
and unlimited power of legislation is given to Congress 
by the Constitution, and its exercise has been sanctioned 
by the courts. 1 

1 See Const. U. S. Art. 1, Sec. 8; Art. 4, Sec. 3. See also The 
American Insurance Co. v. Canter, 1 Peter's U. S. Rep., 511; 3 



36 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The United States owns the land, not patented, in all 
the great territories. It may sell or give it away. Its 
disposal is all within the authority and discretion of 
Congress. 1 

Under the authority vested in Congress, it has passed 
laws providing for the erection of territorial govern- 
ments, and the appointment of officers in each ter- 
ritory. 2 

It allows delegates in Congress to be chosen every 
second year by the people of organized territories, giv- 
ing them the right to debate, but not to vote, in the 
House of Eepresentatives. 

Territories can only be admitted into the Union and 
become states at the will of Congress. 

It need hardly be said that the inhabitants of the 
territories and of the District of Columbia do not pos- 
sess the right to participate in the general government. 
They do not vote for President or Vice-President of the 
United States, and, except as above mentioned, are not 
heard in national affairs. 

QUESTIONS. 

Over what territory has the Government of the United 
States jurisdiction and authority ? 

Is the authority greater over the States, or over the 
territory not embraced in a state? 

What authority is exercised over the District of 
Columbia ? The Territories ? 

In what manner are the Territories governed? 

Story's Commentaries, 193-198; Hepburn v. Ellzey, 2 Cranch, 445; 
Corporation of New Orleans v. Winter, 1 Wheaton, 91. 

Johnson v. Mcintosh, 8 Wheaton, 543; Fletcher v. Beck, 6 
Oranch, 142, 143; Const. U. S., Art. 4, Sec. 3. 

2 See Ordinance of Congress of 1787, and acts since passed for 
same purpose. 



DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. 37 

To what extent do the inhabitants participate in the 
government of the United States ? 

Who owns the land in the Territories ? 

What authority admits a Territory into the Union ? 
Do the inhabitants of the Territories vote for President 
of the United States ? 

Why is this so ? How is it in the District of Co- 
lumbia % 

Write an abstract of the chapter. 



CHAPTER V. 

DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. 
Legislative Department. 

Tn the plan of government provided by the Constitu- 
tion, and under which we live, the three great powers of 
government — the law-making or legislative, law-enforc- 
ing or executive, and the judicial power — are placed in 
different hands and constitute three departments, each 
separate and independent. The legislative power is 
vested in a Congress of the United States, This Con- 
gress is composed of two houses or branches, viz., the 
House of Representatives, or lower house, as it is called, 
and the Senate. Delegates from the States make up 
these bodies. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

Delegates to the House of Representatives are elected 
in the several states, by the people thereof, every second 
year. For the purposes of this election the States are 



38 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

divided into Congressional districts. This division is 
made every tenth year, after the taking of the census of 
the United States. Representatives are apportioned to 
the several States by Congress, according to the respective 
numbers (population). In determining the numbers in 
each state, Indians not taxed, are excluded. 

The act of Congress of February 25, 1882, provides 
that after March 3, 1883, the House of Representatives 
shall consist of three hundred and twenty-five members; 
that whenever a new state shall be admitted, the repre- 
sentatives therefrom shall be in addition to this number. 1 

The following table shows the ratio of representation 
and whole number of delegates in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, under the Constitution of 1789, and after each 
census since. 

No. of 
One Delegate to. Delegates. 

Constitution of 1789 30,000 population 65 

1st census, from March 4, 1793 33,000 population 105 

2d census, from March 4, 1803 33,000 population 141 

3d census, from March 4, 1813 35,000 population 181 

4th census, from March 4, 1823 40,000 population 213 

5th census, from March 4, 1833 .... .47,700 population 240 

6th census, from March 4, 1843 . .... .70.680 population 223 

7th census, from March 4, 1853 93,423 population 237 

8th census, from March 4, 1863 127,381 population 243 

9th census, from March 4, 1873 131,425 population 293 

10th census, from March 4, 1883 154,325 population 325 

The constitutional qualifications for a delegate are, 
that he must be twenty-five years old, have been for 
seven years a citizen of the United States, and, when 
elected, an inhabitant of the state in which he is chosen. 

In case of a vacancy in the representation from any 

1 See also act of same date providing for apportionment among 
the states. 



DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. 39 

state the Governor of that state orders a new election to 
fill such vacancy. 

The House of Representatives chooses its own officers. 
There are many of these. The principal officer of the 
House is the Speaker. He is the presiding officer and 
is chosen from the delegates elected. It is also usual to 
elect a Speaker pro tempore, who acts as presiding officer 
in the absence or during disability of the Speaker. By 
a custom of the House of Representatives, the Speaker 
selects and appoints members to the various committees 
of the House. As the greater part of the work of Con- 
gress is done in committee, and as the committee 
appointed to consider any branch of legislation has, 
justly, great influence over those subjects referred to it, 
it will be seen that the power of the Speaker is very 
great. His course in the appointment of committee-men 
at the opening of a new Congress ; indeed, the person 
elected Speaker, if of pronounced views upon political 
matters of present interest to the people, outlines in a 
great measure the policy of that political party which is 
in the ascendant in the House of Representatives, upon 
those matters. 

Next to that of President of the United States, the 
office of Speaker of the House of Representatives has 
come to be, apparently, the most important, politically, 
in the government. 

The House of Representatives elects its clerks, Ser- 
geant-at-Arms, door keepers, and other officers necessary 
to perform its business. 

In addition to the members elected from the states, 
a delegate chosen by the people of each organized terri- 
tory, is allowed a seat in the House, and a voice in 
debate. He has no vote. 



40 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The House of Representatives has the sole power of 
originating bills for revenue, 1 and the sole power of 
impeachment. 2 

THE SENATE. 

The Senate of the United States is composed of two 
senators from each state. They are chosen by the state 
legislatures for six years. 

Each senator has one vote. No person can hold the 
office of senator who is not thirty years old, and who has 
not been a citizen of the United States nine years. He 
must also be a citizen of the state choosing him. 

The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice Presi- 
dent of the United States. He is called President of the 
Senate. In case of the disability, death or removal of 
the Vice President, or when he is acting as President of 

1 This means that all legislation to raise money for purposes of 
government, must originate in or be proposed by the House of Repre- 
sentatives. In all matters connected with the enactment or making 
of laws, the two houses of the legislature are of equal importance 
and power and laws may generally be proposed in either house. 
The constitutional provision regarding bills for revenue, is like the 
custom in England. In Parliament money bills can only originate in 
the House of Commons. 

In Congress the Senate may amend bills of this character and 
must give them their assent before they can become laws. In Eng- 
land the House of Lords is not allowed to amend such bills, and even 
their right to reject them is denied. 

2 When the President, Vice-President, or any civil officer of the 
United States shall be guilty of treason, bribery, or any other high 
crime or misdemeanor, they are subject to impeachment, and removal 
if found guilty, and the articles of impeachment or charges must come 
from the House of Representatives. In trying one against whom 
charges are preferred, the Senate sits as a court to try the charges. 
If the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the United States presides. When sitting for this 
purpose senators are either sworn or affirmed to try the impeachment 
as judges would do. Two-thirds of the senators present must agree 
to convict. If the person tried is found guilty, the judgment of 
the Senate can only extend to the removal of the person from office, 
and disqualify him from holding or enjoying any office of honor, 
profit or trust under the United States. 



DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. 41 

the United States, the Senate chooses one of its members 
President pro tempore, to act in the place of the Vice 
President. 

The Senate elects its officers, as does the House of 
Representatives. The Senate committees are not ap- 
pointed by the President of the Senate, but are made up 
by the senators themselves, in caucus. 

TTe have already seen that, in general, any law may 
originate in either house of Congress, and that the assent 
of each house is necessary to make a law. 

Congress must meet at least once in each year. Their 
meeting is on the first Monday in December, and they 
meet at the Capitol, in Washington. Each house sits by 
itself. 

Each house is the judge of the election, return and 
qualifications of its members. A majority of each is a 
quorum to do business, and a less number than a quorum 
may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the 
attendance of absent members in such manner and under 
such penalties as each house may provide. Each house 
keeps and publishes a journal of its proceedings. 

Neither house, during a session of Congress, can, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
three days, nor to any other place than that in which the 
two Houses shall be sitting. 

Senators and Representatives receive a compensation 
for their services, paid out of the Treasury of the United 
States. 1 They are privileged from arrest, except for 

1 Compensation first paid members of Congress was six dollars for 
each day's attendance, and six dollars for each twenty miles' travel 
by the usual road in going to and returning from the capital This, 
in case of senators, was increased one-sixth after March 4, 1795. In 
1796, the pay of senators and representatives was six dollars a day, 
and six dollars for every twenty miles' travel. In 1816, the compen- 
sation was fifteen hundred dollars, beside travel fees as before. In 
2* 



42 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

treason, felony, or breach of the peace, during their 
attendance upon the sessions of Congress, and in going 
to and from the place where Congress meets. 

QUESTIONS. 

In our country, what division of powers is made ? 
Into how many departments ? What are they called ? 

What is legislative power? In the United States, 
where vested ? How is the legislative body divided ? 

What are the qualifications necessary for membership 
in the House of Representatives ? By whom elected ? 
How are states divided for this purpose ? Upon what 
basis is this division made ? When ? Vacancy ? Prin- 
cipal officer of the House of Representatives ? What 
can you say of his duties and powers ? 

What do you understand by bills for revenue? 
Impeachment ? What is the rule in England concerning 
the originating of money bills ? What is the Senate of 
the United States ? Of whom composed ? How many 
to each state ? Qualifications for the place ? Who pre- 
sides over the Senate ? When does some one else pre- 
side ? In which may bills generally originate ? Is the 
assent of both houses necessary to the enacting of a law ? 
When does Congress meet ? How often ? Where ? For 
what purpose ? What authority decides on the election, 
qualifications and return of a member of Congress? 
What constitutional provisions are there in regard to 
adjournment of either house ? What are members paid ? 

1818, it was fixed at eight dollars per day, and eight dollars for every 
twenty miles' travel. In 1856, a salary of three thousand dollars was 
fixed. In 1866 a salary of five thousand dollars, and mileage at twenty 
cents per mile, which is the present rale of compensation, although in 
1873 it was fixed at seven thousand five hundred dollars, and actual 
traveling expenses. 



POWERS OF CONGRESS, 43 

In what Congressional district do you live? Name of 
your Congressman ? Names of Senators from your 
state? What are the privileges of a member of Con- 
gress ? Write an abstract of this chapter. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

POWERS OF CONGRESS. 
(Art. I, Sec 8.) 
The Congress shall have power : 

1. To levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts and ex- 
cises ; to pay the debts and to provide for the common 
defense and general welfare of the United States ; but 
all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform through- 
out the United States. 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United 
States. 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. 

4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and 
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout 
the United States. 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of 
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and meas- 
ures. 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting 
the securities and current coin of the United States. 

7. To establish post offices and post roads. 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful 
arts, by securing for limited times to authors and invent- 



44 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

ors the exclusive right to their respective writings and 
discoveries. 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
Court ; to define and punish piracies and felonies com- 
mitted on the high seas, and offenses against the law of 
nations. 

10. To declare war, grant letters of marque and 
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and 
water. 

11. To raise and support armies ; but no appropria- 
tion of money to that use shall be for a longer term than 
two years. 

12. To provide and maintain a navy. 

13. To make rales for the government and regula- 
tion of the land and naval forces. 

14. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel 
invasions. 

15. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplin- 
ing the militia, and for governing such part of them as 
may be employed in the service of the United States, 
reserving to the states respectively the appointment of 
the officers, and the authority of training the militia 
according to the discipline prescribed by Congress. 

16. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases 
whatsoever over such district, not exceeding ten miles 
square, as may by cession of particular states and the 
acceptance of Congress become the seat of government 
of the United States, 1 and to exercise like authority over 
all places purchased, by the consent of the legislature of 
the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of 

1 District of Columbia. 



POWERS OF CONGRESS. 45 

forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful 
buildings. ' 

17. To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers 
and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the 
government of the United States, or in any department 
or officer thereof. 

Some of the Constitutional Prohibitions Upon 
Gongress. 

1. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpui shall 
not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or 
invasion, the public safety may require it. 

2. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto 3 law, shall be 
passed. 

1 See ante, page 34 et. seq. 

2 This is the most famous writ in the law. The name is from 
the Latin, and means, that you have the body. It is a writ issued by 
a court or magistrate, directed to a person detaining another person, 
and commanding him to produce the body of the prisoner at a certain 
time and place, with the time of his detention and its cause. The 
object of the writ is to cause a legal inquiry into the cause of impris- 
onment, and to effect a release of the prisoner if his detention be 
illegal. The date of the origin of the writ is not known. It was in 
use by the judges in time of Henry VI. Traces of its existence are 
found in the time of Edward III. Similar provisions to the one 
above are found in most state constitutions. It has been held that 
Congress alone possessed power to suspend the writ. In 1863, Con- 
gress authorized President Lincoln to suspend the privilege of the 
writ throughout the whole or any part of the United States in his 
discretion. Under this act a partial suspension took place. The 
power to suspend the writ was never exercised by any state except 
Massachusetts. It was during "Shay's Rebellion," suspended for 
nearly a year (November 1786, July, 1787). In the Confederate 
States it was suspended during the war. Application for the writ 
may be made by the prisoner or by any one in his behalf. It is 
usually by petition, verified by affidavit. There is a penalty usually 
imposed on the magistrate for not issuing in proper case. See Hurd 
on Habeas Corpus, Bouvier's Law Dictionary. 

3 An ex post facto law may be denned as one which makes that an 
offense which was not an offense when committed, or one which 
makes a crime, or act, punishable in a manner in which it was not 
punishable when committed, — a law made to punish acts committed 



46 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

3. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in 
consequence of appropriations made by law. 

4. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States. 

5. Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; 
or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press ; or 
the right of the people peaceably to assemble and peti- 
tion the Government for a redress of grievances. 

6. The right of the people to keep and bear arms 
shall not be infringed. 

7. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in 
any house without the consent of the owner ; nor in time 
of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

8. The right of the people to be secure in their per- 
sons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable 
searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no 
warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported 
by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the 
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

9. No person shall be subject for the same offense to be 
twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall he be com- 
pelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against him- 
self, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken 
for public use without just compensation. 

before the law was passed, and which had not been declared crimes 
by preceding laws. It does not mean the same as retroactive laws. 
Any ex post facto law is retroactive, but the converse is not necessarily 
true. As used in the Constitution it refers to criminal or penal 
statutes alone. There is a similar provision in most state constitu 
tions. See 1 Kent's Com., 408; Bouvier's Law Diet., " Ex post facto." 
See, also, for something concerning retroactive laws, Cooley's Const. 
Lim., 265 



LovvKiis of OONOBE08 47 

10. In all criminal prosecutions tha accused shall 

enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an 

impartial jury of the State and district wIk rein the crime 
shall have been committed; to be informed of the nature 

and cause of th<' accusation ; to be confronted with the 
witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for 
obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assist- 
ance of counsel for his defense. 

11. Exce&ftive fines shall not he imposed, nor cruel 
and unusual punishments inflicted. 

12. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain 
rights shall not, be construed to <U'i\y or disparage other- 
retained by the people. 

L3. Tlie powers not delegated to the United States 
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, 
are reserved to tin; states respectively or to the people. 

14. The validity of the public debt of the United 
Stales shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or 
obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion 
&gains1 the United States, or any claim for the lo-- Of 
emancipation of any slave. 

15. The right of citizens of tin 1 United State to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United Slate-, or 
by any state, on account of race, color, or previous con- 
dition of servitude. 

There is another branch to the legislature. After a 
bill or law has been approved by both Houses ot Con- 
gress, it must be approved by the President of the 
United States. 

If he approve and sign it, it becomes a law. If he 
does not approve it, it is his duty to return it to the 
House in which it originated, with his reasons for not 



48 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

signing it. This is called vetoing a bill. When a bill 
is thus returned, there are three things, any one of 
which may be done. That House to which the bill is 
returned may take no further notice of it, or may amend 
it in a way to meet the objections stated in the veto, 
pass it as thus amended, send it to the other House 
of Congress to be approved as thus amended, and so on 
to the President for his approval. But Congress may 
refuse to assent to the objections stated by the President, 
and pass the bill notwithstanding them. This is called 
passing a bill over the veto. This requires that the 
bill be approved by two-thirds of the members elect in 
each House. If the President retains a bill for ten days, 
Sundays excepted, it becomes a law in the same manner 
as if he had signed it, unless Congress by adjournment, 
prevent its return. In such case it does not become a 
law. 

QUESTIONS. 

Tell what you can of the powers of Congress ? What 
is Congress ? Where does its power come from ? How 
is it limited in regard to power? By what? Has it 
general legislative power over all subjects of govern- 
ment? 

What are some prohibitions upon Congress ? In what 
instrument are these prohibitions found? What do you 
understand by the term "prohibition?" What is an 
ex post facto law ? What do you understand about the 
writ of habeas corpus f 

What is the third branch of the legislature ? 

Its authority and power ? 

In what manner is the veto power exercised ? By 
whom ? What is its effect on proposed law ? What 
follows it ? 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 49 

How can a law be passed over the veto ? 
Write an abstract of the chapter. 



CHAPTER VII. 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

We have spoken first of the Legislative Department 
because it is the most important department of the Gov- 
ernment. 

While it is true that the different departments are 
independent and equal, it will be seen that the legisla- 
tive has the greatest power. It can not control the 
action of a court already taken, or of the judge of a 
court, nor can it remove him, nor increase or decrease 
his salary. But, excepting the Supreme Court of the 
United States, Congress undoubtedly has power to 
abolish the system of courts as now existing and create 
a new one. It may increase or lessen the jurisdiction 
of inferior courts, it may take away from any inferior 
court jurisdiction, in such way as to practically abolish 
the court. It may change rules of evidence and enact 
statutes of limitations. 

The Second Great Department of Government is 
the Executive. 

The executive power of the United States shall be 
vested in a President of the United States, who shall 
hold his office for the term of four years. 

The President must be thirty-five years old, and a 
natural born citizen of the United States. 
D 3 



50 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

He is paid a salary, from the treasury of the United 
States, of fifty thousand dollars a year. 

He is supposed to reside at the Executive Mansion 
provided by the Government, usually called the White 
House, at Washington. 

The Constitution provides that "he shall take care 
that the laws be faithfully executed." 

Chief among his duties, therefore, is the selection and 
appointment of proper persons to assist in executing the 
laws of the United States, 

For the purpose of executing the laws, and attending 
to the details of executive business, that business has 
been divided and is managed by several departments 
called Executive Departments. 

For these departments the President nominates heads 
or managers, and, with the consent of the Senate, these 
heads of departments are appointed, and constitute the 
President's Cabinet. 

These departments are the department of State, of 
War, of the Navy, of the Interior, of Justice, and the 
department of Post Office and Post Roads, etc. 

The titles of Cabinet officers are Secretary of State, 
War, the Navy, the Interior, Attorney General and Post- 
master General. 

In these departments are employed the great number 
of men who are doing the detail work of a great govern- 
ment. 

The President, with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, appoints our ministers to foreign powers, the 
justices of the Supreme Court, and the judges of all 
courts inferior to the Supreme Court. 

If during a recess of the Senate a vacancy occurs 
in any office, the appointment to which is made by the 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 51 

President, the President appoints some person to fill the 
vacancy, the appointment expiring at the end of the 
next session of the Senate. 

By virtue of his office, the President is Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, 
and of the militia of the several States, when it is called 
into the actual service of the United States. 

He has power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offenses against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment. He is required, from time to time, to 
give the Congress information of the state of the Union, 
and recommend to their consideration such measures as 
he shall judge necessary and expedient. This is done 
by what is called the President's message. 

The President may, on extraordinary occasions, con- 
vene both Houses or either of them, and in case of dis- 
agreement between them, with respect to the time of 
adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he 
shall deem proper. 

In case of the death, disability, resignation or removal, 
of both President and Vice-President, the President of 
the Senate, if there be one, shall act as President ; and 
if there be no President of the Senate, then the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives shall act as President. 

The President and Vice-President of the United 
States are Elected by States. 

Each state has as many votes for President as it has 
members in the Senate and House of Representatives in 
Congress. 

In practice, each political party in a state, in repre- 
sentative convention, elects as many persons, called 
Presidential electors, as the state is entitled to vote in the 



52 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

electoral college. The names of these men are printed 
upon the ballots cast by the voters. 

Previous to the election and to the election of these 
electors, each party has met in national convention, and 
nominated candidates for President and Vice-President 
of the United States. Those electors having received 
the greatest number of votes in each State cast their 
votes for the party candidates. 

QUESTIONS. 

Who is President of the United States ? How many 
Presidents have there been ? What power has the Pres- 
ident? What department of Government does he 
represent ? 

Tell what you can about his duties ? 

Can he make laws ? Can he hold court ? 

What are the qualifications for the office ? How is a 
President elected? 

Write an abstract of this chapter. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE JUDICIAL POWER. 

The judicial power of the United States is, by the 
Constitution, vested in one Supreme Court, and in such 
inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time 
establish. 

The judges, both of the Supreme Court and the infe- 
rior courts, hold office during good behavior, and receive 
at stated times pay for their services from the treasury 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 53 

of the United States. Their salaries cannot be dimin- 
ished during their continuance in office. 

Since the adoption of the constitution, Congress has 
established United States Circuit and District Courts, 
dividing for this purpose the whole territory of the 
states into circuits and districts. 

Each circuit has a circuit judge, and each district a 
district judge, to preside over the court. 

Courts are held at convenient intervals in each dis- 
trict at at least one place therein. 

Supreme Court. 

The judges of the Supreme Court are each allotted to 
some circuit, and the circuit courts are held either by a 
justice of the Supreme Court, by the circuit judge of 
the circuit, or by the district judge of the district in 
which the court sits, or by any two of the judges named 
sitting together. 

There are eight justices of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, besides the Chief Justice. The salary of 
the Chief Justice is $10,500 a year, and of each Asso- 
ciate Justice $10,000 a year. 

The Supreme Court holds an annual session at Wash- 
ington, commencing on the second Monday of October. 

The United States are divided into nine circuits. The 
first circuit comprises Maine, New Hampshire, Massachu- 
setts and Rhode Island ; the second, Connecticut, Ver- 
mont and New York ; the third, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania and Delaware ; the fourth, Maryland, Virginia, 
West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina ; the 
fifth, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana 
and Texas ; the sixth, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and 
Tennessee ; the seventh, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin ; 



54 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

the eighth, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Kan- 
sas, Colorado and Nebraska : and the ninth, California, 
Oregon and Nevada. 

Jurisdiction. 

The courts of the United States have jurisdiction over 
all cases in law or equity, arising under the constitution, 
laws and treaties of the United States ; all cases affect- 
ing ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; all 
cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; all cases 
to which the United States shall be a party ; controver- 
sies between states ; between citizens of different states ; 
between citizens of the same state, where the dispute is 
concerning lands claimed under grants from different 
states, and between a state or its citizens and a foreign 
state or its subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, or other public 
ministers and consuls, and in all those cases to which a 
state is a party, the Supreme Court has original jurisdic- 
tion. In all other cases it has appellate jurisdiction both 
as to law and fact, but subject to such exceptions and 
regulations as Congress may see fit to make. ' 

1 When we say a court has original jurisdiction over any subject, 
we mean that actions concerning that subject may be begun in that 
court. For instance: In Michigan the circuit courts have original 
jurisdiction in suits arising upon a promissory note, upon which one 
hundred dollars or more is due. Suit may be begun in the circuit 
court upon such a note ; but if the amount due on the note is only fifty 
dollars, suit in the circuit court can not be begun, or if begun, must be 
dismissed, because, it would be said, the circuit court has no jurisdic- 
tion. But original jurisdiction does not mean exclusive jurisdiction. 
The same suit may often be begun in one court or in another, as the 
suitor thinks best. To continue the illustration: A justice's court, in 
Michigan, has jurisdiction to try any cause arising upon a note to the 
amount of three hundred dollars. If one had a note upon which two 
hundred dollars was due, and wished to sue it, he could either begin 
his suit in a justice's court, or in the circuit court. Both courts have 
original jurisdiction where the amount is more than one hundred 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 55 

As at first constituted the Supreme Court had five 
associate justices and the chief justice. One justice was 
added 1807, two more in 1837, and one in 1863. This 
made nine associate justices, or a bench of ten judges. 
Justice Caton died in 1865, during the administration 
of Andrew Johnson. A law was passed by Congress 
over the veto of the President, forbidding the filling of 
the vacancy, or appointment of any more judges, until 
the number of associate justices should be reduced to six. 

In 1869, Congress passed a law, making the number 
of associate justices eight. 1 

The Supreme Court has been a great power in national 
affairs. In the history of its proceedings, as in no other 

dollars, and are said to have concurrent jurisdiction in suits on con- 
tract, involving from one to three hundred dollars. 

By appellate jurisdiction is meant jurisdiction to try and deter- 
mine or to review and correct suits or determinations, which have 
already been passed upon by some other and lower court. 

Thus if you sue or are sued in justice's court, upon a contract 
involving in amount fifty dollars, and are not satisfied with tne result 
of the suit, 3~ou may appeal your case, to the circuit court of the 
county and have it there again tried and determined. 

In such case the circuit court is said to be an appellate court, or 
court to which an appeal has been taken, The most common exer- 
cise of appellate jurisdiction is where causes are taken from courts 
of general jurisdiction to the court of review, on writ of error or cer- 
tiorari. In such cases, the questions passed relate to the decisions of 
law made in the court where the cause was tried, and the judgment 
is either affirmed, or the cause is sent back for a new trial. 

Congress has by statutes limited the appellate jurisdiction of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, and the limit 'itions refer princi- 
pally to the amount involved in the controversy. 

*In all there have been eight chief justices: John Jay ; John 
Rutledge, who only sat during one term, and whose appointment was 
not confirmed by the Senate; William Cushing, who had been an 
associate justice from the organization, and who resigned the office of 
chief justice at once, but remained on the bench as associate until his 
death; Oliver Ellsworth, appointed in 1706, and resigned in 1801; 
John Marshall, who was chief justice for thirty-four years; Roger B. 
Taney, who remained on the bench twenty- eight years; Salmon P. 
Chase, from 1864 to 1873, and Morrison R. Waite, the present chief 
justice. 



56 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

history, can be seen the gradual harmonizing by judicial 
authority of the differences which early sprang up be- 
tween the state and federal authorities. 1 

A large and notable amount of this was accomplished 
during the term of John Marshall, as chief justice, 
and the posterity of the American citizens of that time 
have reason to congratulate themselves that so able and 
pure a judge, so great a lawyer and a man so thoroughly 
imbued with the correct spirit of our institutions was 
then the presiding judge and genius of this court. 

The act or acts of Congress found in the United States 
statutes under the title "The Judiciary," make pro- 
vision concerning the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, 
not already established by the Constitution, and deter- 
mine and limit the jurisdiction by the Circuit and the 
District courts. It is not profitable nor possible to 
attempt even a digest of these provisions. 

One or two provisions may be noticed. The Supreme 
Court has exclusive jurisdiction over all controversies 

^considerable number of the earlier cases in this court were 
suits against states, by citizens of other states, of which the Supreme 
Court had by the constitution original jurisdiction. 

In the case of Chisholm v. Georgia, reported in 2 Dallas' Reports, 
419, the Supreme Court decided that a state could be sued by citizens 
of another state. To this decision and the authority of the court the 
legislature of Georgia made open defiance. The power appeared so 
inexpedient, that Congress proposed an amendment to the constitu- 
tion in this respect, and the eleventh amendment to the constitution 
was adopted. 

Another case of great importance was the one known as the Dart- 
mouth College case (Dartmouth College #. Woodward, 4 Wheaton,518) . 
A charter had been granted by the British Crown to the trustees 
of Dartmouth College, in 1769. This the Supreme Court held to be a 
contract within the meaning of the Constitution ; that an act of the 
legislature of New Hampshire altering the charter in a material 
respect without the consent of the college authorities., was unconsti- 
tutional and void as an act impairing the obligation of a contract. 
See Art. I. Sec. 10. Const. U. S. 

The Supreme Court not only held the law void, but in doing so 
set aside the judgment of the state court affirming its validity. 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 57 

of a civil nature where a state is a party, except 
between a state and its citizens, or between a state and 
citizens of other states, or aliens. In these cases it has 
original but not exclusive jurisdiction. It also has 
exclusive jurisdiction of all suits or proceedings against 
ambassadors or other public ministers, or their domes- 
tics or servants, and original, but not exclusive jurisdic- 
tion of all suits brought by ambassadors or other public 
ministers, or in which a consul or vice-consul is a party. 

It is also provided that the trials of issues of fact 
in the Supreme Court, in all actions at law against citi- 
zens of the United States, shall be by jury. ! 

Without particularizing, most civil cases heard and 
determined in a district or circuit court of the United 
States where the amount in controversy exclusive of 
costs exceeds the sum or value of five thousand dollars, 
may be reviewed at the option of either party in the 
Supreme Court. 

There are some causes, or classes of causes, where 
writ of error or appeal is allowed without regard to the 
amount in dispute. Among these are cases touching 
patent-rights, copy-rights ; actions for enforcement of 
the revenue laws, some actions against officers of the 
revenue. 

But the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction in 
another class of cases concerning which something has 
already been said. This is jurisdiction to issue a writ of 

1 It is now many years since a jury was empanneled to try a 
question of fact in the Supreme Court. It is said that early in the 
history of the court they were regularly empanneled and held ready 
to be used if needed. The case of the State of Georgia against Sam- 
uel Brailsford, tried in 1794, when the court sat at Philadelphia, was 
tried by jury. It is probable no jury has been in attendance upon 
this court since before the time of Marshall. 



58 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

error to the highest court of any state for the purpose of 
reviewing the decision of that court in certain cases. 

The cases are those where is drawn in question the 
validity of a treaty or statute of, or authority exercised 
under, the United States, and the decision made by the 
state court is against their validity ; or where the valid- 
ity of a statute passed by the legislature of a state, or an 
authority exercised under the state, is questioned, as 
being repugnant to the Constitution, treaties, or laws of 
the United States, and the decision of the state court is 
in favor of their validity ; or where any title, right or 
immunity is claimed under the Constitution, or any 
treaty or statute of, or commission held or authority 
exercised under the United States, and the decision of 
the state court is against the title, right or privilege, or 
immunity specially set up and claimed hy either party. ' 

Circuit Courts. 

The Circuit Courts of the United States have original 
jurisdiction of suits of a civil nature at law or in equity, 
where the matter in dispute, exclusive of costs, exceeds 
the sum or value of five hundred dollars, and an alien is 
a party, or the suit is between a citizen of the state 
where it is brought and the citizen of another state. 

There are many other cases in which it has juris- 
diction. A corporation created by a state, is a citizen of 
the state within the meaning of this act. 

District Courts. 

The District Courts of the United States have juris- 
diction of all crimes and offences cognizable under the 

'See act Congress September 24, 1789, Sec. 25; Revised Statutes 
United States, Sec. 709. For a leading case on the subject see Martin 
v. Hunter, 1 Wheaton, 304. 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 59 

authority of the United States, committed within their 
respective districts, or upon the high seas, the punish- 
ment of which is not capital (Revised Statutes United 
States, Title XIII, Chap. 3). The exception to this 
jurisdiction relates to the deposit, etc., of fraudulent 
papers in the office of the Surveyor-General of California. 
The Districts Courts may also try and determine 
cases arising under any act for the punishment of piracy, 
where no circuit court is held in the district ; all 
suits for penalties and forfeitures, incurred under any 
law of the United States ; all suits at common 
law brought by the United States, or by any offi- 
cer thereof, authorized to sue ; all suits in equity to 
enforce the lien of the United States upon any real 
estate for any internal revenue tax ; certain suits for 
the recovery of forfeitures or damages to the United 
States ; all causes arising under the postal laws. It 
is not profitable to notice all the cases or classes of cases, 
in which the District Courts have jurisdiction. For the 
jurisdiction as fixed by statute see United States Revised 
Statutes, Title XIII, Chap. 3. 

Jurisdiction; Source of. 

It will be noticed that, excepting the power and juris- 
diction given in the constitution to the Supreme Court, 
the matter of jurisdiction of the courts is left entirely 
with the Congress. 1 

The Constitution, Art. 3, Sec. 2, provides to what 
cases the judicial power of the United States shall ex- 
tend, and, of course, all jurisdiction is within these 
limits. 

But in most cases the courts cannot exercise jurisdic- 

1 See Turner v. Bank of North America, 4 Dallas, 8 



60 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

tion without the action of Congress, and Congress is 
not bound to enlarge the jurisdiction of federal courts, 
so as to embrace every subject to which the judicial 
power might constitutionally extend. 

It has been decided that Congress has no power to 
extend or enlarge the original jurisdiction of the Supreme 
Court. 1 

And that it has not delegated the exercise of judicial 
power to the Circuit Courts, but in certain specified 
cases. 2 

But it is seen, and it is important to remember, that 
while the federal authority, legislative and judicial, is 
restrained by constitutional provisions, still the United 
States are one nation and one people, so far as concerns 
matters and power arising under and given by the Con- 
stitution. The judicial power of the United States must 
be competent not only to take care of matters arising 
under the laws of the United States, but to decide upon 
the constitutionality of the laws passed by a State. 

Either all cases arising under the Constitution, laws 
and treaties of the United States, must be brought in 
United States courts, or else the decision of a state court 
must be subject to review in the courts of the United 
States. 

Decisions upon questions which affect the nation must 
De uniform. Nothing but confusion could arise if the 
final judgment in such cases could be entered in the 
courts of the states. 3 

! Marbury"y. Madison, 1 Cranch, 137. 

2 M'Iatire v. Wood, 7 Cranch, 504; United States v. Bevans, 3 
Wlieaton, 336. 

8 See Kent's Commentaries, vol. 1, "Jurisprudence of the United 
States." 



THE JUDICIAL POWEK. 61 



Court of Claims. 



One of the necessary incidents of any sovereign au- 
thority is that it cannot be subjected to suit in its own 
courts, except it so elects, and then only in manner pro- 
vided. For the purpose of passing upon the validity of 
claims against the United States, Congress has erected a 
court of claims. It was established by act of February 
24, 1855. It consists of a chief justice and four judges, 
appointed by the President, with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, who hold office during good behavior. 
The pay of these judges is four thousand five hundred 
dollars per annum. 

This court holds one annual session, at Washington, 
beginning on the first Monday in December. 

The jurisdiction given this court, by Congress, is 
found in Chapter twenty-one, Title XIII, of the Revised 
Statutes. It may hear and determine claims founded on 
statutes, or contracts, or referred to it by Congress ; 
set-offs and counter-claims of the Government against 
claimants ; claims of disbursing officers ; for captured 
and abandoned property. 

A large portion of the business done by this court 
since the war of the Rebellion has arisen from claims 
preferred by parties claiming to have been damaged by 
acts of the federal army. 

From judgment entered in this court, there is an ap- 
peal to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Any final judgment against the claimant, either in 
the Court of Claims, or on appeal to the Supreme 
Court, is a bar to any further claim or demand arising 
out of the matters involved in the controversy. 

When a demand is allowed by the court, it is paid 



62 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

out of the Treasury of the United States from any funds 
appropriated generally to the payment of claims. 

Any claim against the United States which might be 
tried and determined in this court, is forever barred un- 
less action is begun within six years after claim first 
accrues. 

But there are exceptions in cases where certain 
enumerated disabilities exist when a claim first accrues. 
In the excepted cases, the claim is not barred until three 
years after the disability is removed. 

QUESTIONS. 

By what instrument are powers of government dis- 
tributed ? How and where was this instrument framed ? 
In what hands is the judicial power vested? How are 
judges appointed ? How long do they hold office ? 
What courts have been established by Congress ? Tell 
what you can of the Circuit Courts ? How many jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court ? How many circuits in the 
United States? How many circuit judges? In what 
circuit do you live ? In what district ? What is original 
jurisdiction? Appellate jurisdiction ? Concurrent juris- 
diction % What can you tell of the history of the Su- 
preme Court ? Can it be abolished by Congress ? Why 
not? Who is present Chief Justice? From what 
state ? 

What exclusive jurisdiction has Supreme Court? 
Can a case be begun in that court ? What cases ? What 
is the principal business or jurisdiction of Supreme 
Court ? 

What class or classes of causes may be reviewed by 
the Supreme Court ? In reviewing these does the court 
exercise original or appellate jurisdiction ? Does the 



CONSTITUTIONAL PROHIBITIONS UPON STATES. bd 

amount involved have anything to do with the right to 
have cause reviewed ? 

Is this true of all cases % What is the jurisdiction of 
Circuit Courts ? District Courts, give jurisdiction ? 

What other court is there ? For what purpose estab- 
lished \ Why ? 

How is the court constituted \ Its sessions ? 

What is necessary to be done before a state can be 
sued by one of its citizens ? Why ? Is there an appeal 
from decision of Court of Claims ? To what tribunal ? 

Write an abstract of the chapter. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

SOME OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROHIBI- 
TIONS UPON STATES. 

1. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation; 
grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of 
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender in pay- 
ment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law 
impairing the obligation of contracts ; or grant any title of nobility. 
—Art. 1, Sec. 10. 

Treaty, Alliance, Confederation. 

The reason for this prohibition upon the states is ob- 
vious. The treaty making power ought to belong exclu- 
sively to the nation. There should be no dealings with 
foreign states or powers, except by the General Govern- 
ment. A treaty made by the General Government is the 
law of the land, binding upon all the states, and its 
enforcement or non-enforcement a question of general 



64 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

national policy. This prohibition is an expression of 
the sentiment of the states assembled in convention for 
the purpose of laying the foundations for a system of 
government, that the dealing with all foreign powers 
should be through the national authorities, and that the 
states should have no such power. The President and 
Senate can alone make treaties. 

Letters of Marque and Reprisal. 

By tne Constitution the authority is given Congress 
to grant these letters. It is also prohibited to the states. 

A letter of marque and reprisal is a commission 
granted by the government to a private individual, to 
take the property of a foreign state, or of the subjects of 
a foreign state, as reparation for an injury committed by 
such state, its citizens or subjects. 1 

It is a hostile measure to redress grievances, but such 
letters are granted when the nation granting them and 
the nation against whom granted are at peace. They 
.are not necessarily preliminary to war. It is a manner 
of retaliating for injuries suffered by a nation or its 
citizens at the hands of another nation. 

A vessel fitted out at private expense and armed with 
this commission is called a privateer. To encourage 
this sort of warfare, the owners and crews of such vessels 
are allowed to divide and appropriate to themselves the 
property captured. Privateering was formerly very 
common. In 1856, the leading powers of Europe, in 
congress at Paris, declared against privateering. In 
this congress and declaration the United States declined 
to join. During the civil war in America, Congress 

1 See Bouvier's Law Dictionary, " Letter of Marque." 



CONSTITUTIONAL PROHIBITIONS UPON STATES. 65 

authorized the President to grant letters of marque. 
None were issued. 

The Confederates offered such letters to foreigners, 
but they were not accepted. l 

Coin Money. 

There are many obvious reasons why, in a great 
nation, there should be a regular and uniform coinage. 
If each state could coin money, making a standard of 
weight and fineness for itself, giving to each coin a name 
of its own, the confusion would be great. The states 
are so closely bound together in interests, in commerce 
especially, that it would practically be impossible to 
conduct business with so many kinds of coins. 

Bills of Credit. 

No state shall emit bills of credit. In the sense in 
which the term is used in the Constitution, a bill of 
credit is paper or notes issued by a state, on the faith 
and credit of the state, designed to circulate as money. 

The prohibition does not apply to notes .of a state 
bank, drawn on the credit of a particular fund set apart 
for the purpose. The state may incorporate a bank, and 
bills be issued and circulated as money; but so long as 
they circulate upon private credit, they are not bills of 
credit within the meaning of the Constitution. 2 

Nor does the prohibition extend to an evidence of 
indebtedness issued by a state for money borrowed or 
services performed for it. 

1 See on this subject generally, 1 Kent's Commentaries, 96 ; Twiss, 
Law of Nations, 73; Story, Const.; Wheaton's International Law, 
§ 290; Chilly, Law of Nations, § 1,356; Declaration of Paris, April 
15, 1856; Bouv. L. Diet., "Privateer." 

2 See 1 Kent's Com , p. 407; Craig v. State of Missouri 4 Peters' 
U. S. Rep., 410; Briscoe v. Bank of Kentucky, 11 Peters', 257. 

E 3* 



66 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Bill of Attainder. 

The doctrine of attainder is hardly spoken of or 
known to present generations. Formerly, in England, 
whenever a person had committed treason or felony and 
received sentence of death for his crime, it worked an 
attainder. It was the extinction of all civil rights and 
capacities. Its effect was to forfeit to the crown all his 
estate, real and personal. His blood was corrupted, so 
that nothing passed by inheritance, from or through him. 

Abolished in England by Statute 33 and 34 Victoria, 
Chapter 23. In this country, during and after the Revo 
lution, acts of attainder were passed by several states. 

A bill of attainder was a legislative conviction and 
punishment for crime. 1 

We have already learned what an ex post facto law is, 
and probably no further reference need be made to that 
subject. 

No State shall Pass a Law Impairing the Obliga- 
tion of Gontracts. 

This provision has given rise to as much discussion 
and litigation as any clause in the Constitution. It is a 
constitutional restriction upon the legislative power of 
the states. 

It was early settled, or decided, that when a law 
was in its nature a contract, and absolute rights had 
vested under that law, that a repeal of the law could not 
impair these acquired rights. A grant is a contract, 
within the meaning of the Constitution, and a grant from 
a state is as much protected as one from an individual. 

'See Macaulay's History of England; Story, on Constitution, 
§ 1,344; Cummings v. Missouri, 4 Wallace, 277; Ex parte Garland, 
4 Wallace, 333; Cooley, Const. Lim., p. 262 and note 1. 



CONSTITUTIONAL PROHIBITIONS UPON STATES. 67 

Nor can the Legislature repeal laws creating private cor- 
porations, so as to take away property, or vest it in 
others, without the consent of the corporation, or some 
default on its part. 1 It lias been held thai a contract 
between two slates was protected in the same manner. 2 

Republican Form of Government. 

No state can abolish the republican form of govern- 
ment. Such a form of government is guaranteed by 
the Constitution of the United States, and it' abolished 
would call for and receive the direct intervention of the 

federal authority. 

QUESTIONS. 

Write an abstract of Art. 1, Sec. 10, United States 
Constitution. 

What is a treaty ? What arc letters of marque aild 
reprisal \ 

What is a bill of attainder \ Ek postfacto law I 

Reasons why a state should not make a treaty or alli- 
ance ? 

What authority can alone make treaties 1 

Why should not each state coin money? 

What is a bill of credit \ To what extent does the 
prohibition extend? Has a state power to incorporate a 
bank % 

When was attainder abolished in England \ When 
in this country? Write an abstract of what is said 
concerning laws impairing the obligations of contracts. 

Fletcher e. Peck, G Cranch 87; New Jersey v. Wilson, 7 
Cranch. 164; Terrel v. Taylor, 9 Cranch, 43; Dartmouth College P, 
Woodward, 4 Wheaton, 518. 

2 Green v. Biddle, 8 Wheaton, 1. See, generally, Cooleys Const. 
Lim., 273; 1 Kent's Com., 413. 



68 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



CHAPTEE X. 

SOME OTHER POWERS OF SOVEREIGNTY. 

Eminent Domain. 
The right to take private property for public use, is 
one inherent in the sovereign power. But for the 
restrictions upon this power in the Constitution of the 
United States and of the states, we should not be con- 
cerned with the subject, except as a general power of 
government. It is important to know the force and 
effect of the power as restricted. 

What the Right is. 

The eminent domain has been defined as "the right 
which belongs to the society or to the sovereign of dis- 
posing in case of necessity, and for the public safety, of 
all the wealth contained in the state." This is a narrow 
definition because, unless convenience is to be treated as 
a necessity, it does not define the right. There exists in 
every government, or in the aggregate of the society, an 
idea and right of property remaining after the grant to 
individuals of the highest private title. It is sometimes 
said that when title is taken from the government, there 
is always an implied reservation by the government, of 
the right to resume possession and control of the prop- 
erty, in the manner directed by the Constitution and 
laws of the state, whenever the public interest requires 
it. " Title to property is always held upon the implied 
condition that it must be surrendered to the Govern- 



SOME OTHER POWERS OF SOVEREIGNTY. 69 

ment, either in whole or in part, when the public neces- 
sities, evidenced according to the established forms of 
law, demand." 

The right is the same one existing in the society or 
state, as the one to navigate public waters, to fish in 
them, and the like. But in the navigation of navigable 
lakes and streams, no private rights are interfered with. 
When, however, a common highway becomes a neces- 
sity, there are usually private rights to be first divested. 
The owner of land necessary to the road may dedicate it 
to the public for use as a highway, may sell it to the 
public, or may be forcibly dispossessed if he will neither 
sell nor give. 1 

" As there is not often occasion to speak of the eminent 
domain except in connection with those cases in which 
the government is necessitated to appropriate property 
against the will of the owners, the right itself is generally 
defined as if it were restricted to such cases, and is said 
to be that superior right of property pertaining to the 
sovereignty by which the private property acquired by 
its citizens under its protection may be taken or its use 
controlled for the public benefit, without regard to the 
wishes of the owners. More accurately, it is the right- 
ful authority which must rest in every sovereignty to 
control and regulate those rights of a public nature 
which pertain to its citizens in common, and to appro- 
priate and control individual property for the public 
benefit, as the public safety, convenience, or necessity 
may demand.''' 2 

Property Subject to the Right. 

Every species of property may be taken under this 

1 See Cooley, Const. Limitations, Chap. XV. 
9 Ibid, p. 524. 



70 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

right which can not be appropriated by any other recog- 
nized right. Money, and rights of action only, it cannot 
be needful to take in this way. 

The Right as Belonging to the National Authority. 

The regulation, in this country, of private rights, 
privileges, and immunities belongs to state government. 
The right of eminent domain pertains to state govern- 
ments rather than to that of the nation. 

In the new Territories, where the United States Gov- 
ernment possesses complete sovereignty, it possesses this 
right also. When the state is formed, the right passes 
to it. The General Government then possesses the right 
only so far as it has sovereign authority. It may still 
exercise it for its own purposes, as for forts, light-houses, 
military roads, and similar purposes. 

Must be for a Public Purpose. 

The right can only be exercised for a public purpose. 
But what is a public purpose ? Certainly if the public 
interest will in no way be promoted, the purpose cannot 
be a public one. 

There could be no protection at all to private prop- 
erty if it could be taken for any but public uses. Yet 
there is great variety of opinion as to what may be con- 
sidered and treated as a public purpose, so as to allow 
the exercise of this right. It has been said that if the 
public interest can in any way be promoted, it must rest 
in the wisdom of the legislature whether the benefit will 
be sufficient to warrant the exercise of the right. 

The legislatures of several states have authorized the 
taking of lands for mill sites, when it was impossible, 
from the nature of the country, to obtain mill sites with- 
out overflowing lands thus condemned. 



SOME OTHER POWERS OF SOVEREIGNTY. 71 

There may have been a time when the government 
should allow the exercise of this right in favor of saw 
mills or grist mills. At present, however, it would 
seem that hotels, churches, and mills of every kind were 
as much a public necessity as saw mills. 

The right is most frequently exercised in condemning 
lands and other property for canals, drains, wharves, 
and public roads of all kinds. But, as has been before 
stated, the right is the same one exercised by govern- 
ment in building levees, court-houses, universities, 
prisons. 

"The common highway is kept in repair by assess- 
ments of labor and money ; the tolls paid turnpikes, or 
the fares on railways, are the equivalents to these assess- 
ments, and the latter are equally public highways with 
the others, when open for use to the public impartially. 
The government provides court-houses for the adminis- 
tration of justice; buildings for its seminaries of instruc- 
tion ; aqueducts to convey pure and wholesome water 
into large towns ; it builds levees to prevent the country 
being overflowed by the rising streams; it may cause 
drains to be constructed to relieve swamps and marshes 
of their stagnant water; and other measures of public 
utility, in which the public at large are interested, and 
which require the appropriation of private property, are 
also within the power, where they fall within the same 
reasons as the cases mentioned." ! 

The Taking. 

The taking must be by legislative authority, and the 
legislature of the state must determine in what cases the 
right shall be exercised. But the taking need not be 

1 Cooley Const. Lim., 533. 



72 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

by the state itself, nor to the state. If in the opinion of 
the legislature the use can be made as effectual by the 
employment of other agencies, they may be employed. 

In the case of a common highway, the title to the 
land taken is not disturbed. It remains in the former 
owners of the soil. The land is subjected to the burden 
of the public right of travel. This right acquired by the 
public is called an easement. 

This easement or right is protected by government by 
criminal proceedings when the general right is disturbed. 
In other cases it is important and proper that the title to 
the property should be taken to the municipality for 
whose use it is especially designated. Take the case 
where land is needed for a district school-house. The 
building and the land upon which it is to be built are for 
the especial benefit of the people of the district. It is 
to be under the care of the district. The legislature 
delegates to the district the exercise of the power of 
eminent domain. In the case of railroads the right is 
delegated to the corporation. It being established by 
the legislature that railroads are a public necessity, and 
can be as well or better built, so far as the general 
benefit is concerned, by individuals or corporations, they 
have been authorized to take private Droperty for the 
construction of such highways. 

Limitations. 

By whomsoever the right is exercised, it is limited in 
both the federal and state constitutions. 

In the Federal Constitution is the direct provision that 
private property shall not be taken for public use with- 
out just compensation. This is usually repeated in state 
constitutions. But there are other limitations, constitu- 



SOME OTHER POWERS OF SOVEREIGNTY. 73 

tional and resting in common sense. The taking must 
be limited to the necessity. When a part will do, the 
whole can not be taken. If the needed public use can be 
secured by allowing the owner to occupy for some pur- 
pose or purposes not inconsistent therewith, such occu- 
pation should be allowed him. If only the use is needed, 
the title should not be taken. 

But much of what is necessary is for the legislature 
to determine, if indeed the whole question is not for 
them. 

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or prop- 
erty, without due process of law. This constitutional 
provision would require that the statutes of the state 
adopting or permitting a manner of exercising this great 
right of eminent domain, be followed ; and it is the rul- 
ing of the courts that in any taking, either by the state 
through its proper officers, or by individuals or munici- 
palities to whom the power is delegated, the forms of law 
must be strictly followed. 

Compensation must be provided for in every case, 
and it must be just compensation. When the law has 
directed to what tribunal the fixing of compensation shall 
be left, there is generally no going beyond the decision 
reached. 

But it must be reached in a proper manner, upon a 
proper submission. The government may take private 
property for its own uses, without beforehand making 
compensation to the owner. When it is taken by private 
parties, it is reasonable that the constitution or the stat- 
ute provide for payment either before or at the time of 
the taking. The constitution and statute law of each 
state must be consulted to ascertain the proceedings pro- 
vided for exercising this right. 



74 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The United States a Preferred Creditor. 

The United States have a preference, as creditors, 
over individuals and over states. 1. In the case of the 
death of the debtor, without sufficient assets. 2. In 
case of bankruptcy or legal insolvency of the debtor, 
manifested in some way known to the law. 3. In case 
of a voluntary assignment by the insolvent of all his 
property to pay his debts. 4. In the case of an absent, 
concealed or absconding debtor whose effects are attached 
by process of law. 

The priority was intended to operate only where, by 
law or by act of the debtor, his property was sequestered 
for the use of his creditors. 1 In other words, the claim 
of the United States against a debtor does not operate 
to avoid any lien of other creditors already acquired, or 
any rights in the debtor's property or estate, but, the 
creditors standing upon an equal footing in respect to 
acquired or vested rights in the debtor's estate, the debt 
of the United States is preferred and first paid. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the eminent domain ? To what power does 
it belong ? Is it restricted in the United States? 

Tell what the right is. Upon what principle in gov- 
ernment does it depend ? Write an abstract of "what 
the right is." What sorts of property may be taken? 
Why not money ? Why not rights of action % To what 
extent does the right belong to the National authority ? 
For what purposes must the right be exercised % Why ? 
What is a public purpose ? What are common instances 
of the exercise of the right ? By what authority must 
the taking be authorized ? Can the state itself condemn 

1 Kent's Commentaries, I, p. 247. 



PUBLIC REVENUES. 75 

property for its purposes? Can any other person or 
persons receive the authority ? From what source do 
railroad companies derive the authority to lay a road 
through a farm? 

Do cities exercise the same ri^ht in taking houses and 
lands for opening a street ? 

Can a school district condemn private property ? For 
what purpose ? Could it condemn property for a church 
site \ Why not ? What are some of the limitations upon 
the exercise of the power ? Is there any limitation upon 
the power of the legislature to exercise the right ? 

How much property or land may be taken ? 

What is compensation? Write an abstract of this 
chapter. What can you say about the United States 
being a preferred creditor ? When is its debt preferred ? 

Write an abstract of this subject. 



CHAPTER XI. 

PUBLIC REVENUES. 
Taxation. 

Government must be supported. It pays out money 
to those who do its business. It pays pensions, keeps an 
army and navy for the common defense, and is obliged 
to have revenue from some source. The public needs in 
this regard are supplied by taxation. 

Taxes are "the enforced proportional contribution of 
persons and property, levied by the authority of the 
state for the support of the government and for all 



76 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

public needs." 1 "The public revenues are a portion 
which each subject gives of his property, in order to 
secure and enjoy the remainder." 2 They are " burdens 
or charges imposed by the legislative power of a state 
upon persons or property, to raise money for public 
purposes." 3 

The citizen and property owner owes to the Govern- 
ment, for the protection of life, liberty and property, a 
duty to pay taxes. They are necessary, that the Govern- 
ment may carry out its functions. 

Taxes differ from subsidies in being regular and uni- 
form, and they differ from forced contributions, loans 
and benevolences of arbitrary and tyrannical periods, in 
that they are levies by authority of law, and by some 
rule of proportion which is intended to insure uni- 
formity of contribution and a just apportionment of 
the burdens of government. In an exercise of the 
power to tax, the purpose always is that a common bur- 
den shall be sustained by common contributions, regu- 
lated by some fixed general rule, and apportioned by 
the law according to some uniform ratio of equality. 4 
The power to tax is a sovereign power, and the sovereign 
power has unlimited right to tax all persons and property 
within the limits of sovereignty. In the United States, 
under the division of powers made by the Constitution, 
the authority to tax is legislative. We have already 
seen that money bills, or bills for revenue, must origi- 
nate in Congress, and only in the House of Representa- 
tives. While, then, taxation is necessary in some form, 
it is for the legislature to say in what form, to what 

1 Opinions of Judges, 58 Maine, 591. 

2 Montesquieu, Spirit of the Laws, b. 13, ck. 1. 
3 Blackwell on Tax-titles, p. 1. 

4 Cooley on Taxation, p. 2, and cases there cited. 



PUBLIC REVENUES. 77 

extent, and upon what subjects it is discreet or politic to 
lay and apportion a tax. 1 

The executive and judicial departments have nothing 
to do with questions of legislative policy. No matter 
how unjust or oppressive a tax may appear, it will be 
enforced if not opposed to the fundamental law of the 
state. The motives which have influenced the selection 
of objects for taxation, or determined the rate, can not 
be inquired into for the purpose of invalidating the tax. 
But in the United States there are some restrictions upon 
the exercise of the taxing power. 

Restrictions upon the Taxing Power. 

First, in the Constitution. Duties, imposts and excises 
must be uniform throughout the United States. A capi- 
tation or other direct tax must be laid in proportion to 
the federal census, according to which representation in 
the House of Representatives is determined. No tax or 
duty can be laid on articles exported from any state. 
These are express restrictions. To them is to be added 
one, always implied : No tax can be laid on a state or its 
agencies of government, nor any which can tend to im- 
pair the sovereign power of the state. 2 

Second, limitations which inhere in the very power 
itself. Some of these may be given : 1. A tax shall be 
imposed for the public good ; but what is for the public 
good is for the legislature to decide. 2. A tax must be 
laid for a public purpose. The question here, however, 
is not one concerning which the determination of the 
legislature is final. What is or is not a public purpose, 
is a question of law. 3. A tax can only be laid upon 

1 Cooley on Taxation, p. 34. 

2 Const. U. S., Art. 1, Sees. 8, 9. Cooley on Taxation, p. 73, et seq 



78 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

the persons and property within the territorial limits of 
the sovereignty ; but when a person is resident within a 
state, his personal property accompanies him, in contem- 
plation of law, and he may be required to pay taxes on 
it wherever he is. Real estate within the limits of a state 
may belong to non-resident owners, but may always be 
taxed. 

4. The power to tax can not be delegated. It must 
be exercised by the Congress itself. 

5. And relating, as above stated, to an exception 
always implied : The Federal Government can not tax 
the means or agencies by which the state carries on its 
functions, nor the salaries of state officers, nor a state 
municipal corporation. l 

Taxes are direct and indirect. Direct taxes within 
the meaning of the United States Constitution are only 
capitation taxes (a tax upon heads, or persons) and taxes 
on lands. 

Direct Taxes. 

The Government has exercised the right to levy a 
direct tax but few times. It can not be made uniform, 
and is objectionable upon that and other grounds. At 
the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, a direct tax 
was laid on the states. The Northern States, however, 
assumed the amount of the tax themselves, and paid it 
to the General Government, rather than have their citi- 
zens taxed in that manner. 

Indirect Taxes. 

The larger part of the revenues of the United States 
is raised by indirect taxation. Taxes are levied upon 

1 See Cooley, Taxation, pp. 41 to 66. 



PUBLIC KEVENUES. 79 

commodities, and are paid by the consumer, in the end, 
in the market price of articles taxed. * 

There are now very few taxes paid by citizens in any 
other way. These taxes upon commodities may be upon 
those manufactured at home, but are principally upon 
imported goods. A tax upon imports is called a duty 
or impost. 

When the tax is upon the consumption or sale *>f 
a commodity, it is called an excise. An instance is the 
tax now paid the United States by retail dealers in 
tobacco and liquors. 

Postage. — The money we pay as postage can not be 
called a tax upon us, since service is performed for us for 
which Ave should pay. If one does not use the post-office 
or mails, there is nothing to pay. The expense of the 
postal system can only fall on such an one when the post- 
office department is not self-supporting, and then only in 
common with everybody else. 

Collection of the Revenue. — The revenue is collected 

1 The text has given the rule applicable to a system of impost 
duties or taxes, laid for purposes of revenue only; but, in the interest 
of home labor and manufacturing, governments sometimes adopt a 
policy protective in character. This has been the policy of the United 
States for years. 

Free trade is the removing of all restrictions and allowing goods 
from foreign nations and countries to be laid down in America, with- 
out tax or charge. Arguments are not wanting in favor of each 
system. 

Many men think that our ports should be open to the world, that 
the world may compete for our trade. Others, that such a tax should 
be laid upon imported goods, that the money necessit'es of the gov- 
ernment may be met by it. Protectionists believe that each nation 
should be in every way self-sustaining; that the manufacture of such 
goods as are needed in the country should be encouraged; that the 
price at which goods might be bought under a free trade system, is a 
small matter compared with a probable collapse of all manufacturing 
industries, or a continuance of these industries upon a basis of pay- 
ment to labor fixed by the standard of thickly-inhabited European 
countries. The question has become a political one, and concerning 
it old party lines are much broken. 



80 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

by the servants or officers of government. There are at 
all ports of entry in the United States collectors of cus- 
toms. These, with their deputies and employes, look 
after the collection of the duties on goods brought into 
this country from foreign nations. 

The United States are divided into Internal Revenue 
Districts, and over each of these is a collector. These 
officers and their deputies collect the internal duties from 
manufacturers and dealers in tobacco, cigars, liquors, 
and the like. 

Public Lands. — A further and considerable source of 
revenue to the United States, is from sales of public lands. 

We have learned that the General Government owns 
the unpatented lands in the great territories. 

Many acres of these are sold by the Government. 
Large quantities are given away, the only requirement 
being a stated prior residence on the land, and certain 
improvements thereon. 

QUESTIONS. 

In what manner is Government supported ? 

What need has the nation of money ? 

What are taxes ? What right has the Government to 
call upon citizens for contributions ? Are taxes volun- 
tary or involuntary contributions ? How do they differ 
from subsidies ? 

What is a subsidy \ Give an example of one. 

Upon what principle is the power to tax exercised ? 

Is it a sovereign power ? What department of Gov- 
ernment fixes the amount and names the subjects of 
taxation ? 

What have the executive and judicial powers to do 
with the policy of taxation ? 



HOW THE PRESIDENT IS ELECTED. 81 

Give the constitutional restrictions upon the power of 
taxation. 

What power determines, finally, whether a tax is for 
a public purpose or not ? Why ? 

What are direct taxes. Indirect ? What can you tell 
us about direct taxes? Are such taxes commonly levied 
in this country % In what manner is the revenue of the 
United States principally raised ? Is postage a tax ? 

How is the revenue collected ? 

What other source of revenue has the United States ? 

Write an abstract of this chapter. 



CHAPTER XII. 

HOW THE PRESIDENT IS ELECTED. 

The Primaries. 

Parties will always make necessary the selection, be- 
fore the time for casting the electoral vote for President 
and Vice-President, of candidates for these offices, that 
there may be combined effort and voting. 

The selection of men for these hi^h offices begins in 
the townships, wards and voting precincts all over the 
United States. The method of participating in nomina- 
tions is republican. Delegates are chosen to a county 
convention. These delegates may be instructed, and 
in all honor bound, by the resolutions of these pri- 
mary conventions, to select only such men in county 
convention as will, in the state convention, elect delegates 
who are favorable to the views of the people in the pri- 
maries, in the choice of candidates. 

I know of no other way by which the people them- 
F 



82 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

selves, in a state, can with certainty be heard in a 
national convention. The county convention elects 
delegates to the state or district convention. Whether 
separate district (Congressional districts is meant) con- 
ventions are held, or all meet in state convention, each 
Congressional district nominates its delegates to the 
national convention. In both the Democratic and Repub- 
lican parties the representation from the states is the 
same, viz., two delegates for each Congressional district, 
and two at large, chosen by the state convention, for 
each United States Senator. The Republicans allow also 
two delegates from each organized territory and two from 
the District of Columbia. 1 

The place for holding the national convention is fixed 
by the national committees of each party. 

There, at the appointed time, the delegates assemble. 
The credentials of each delegation are examined by a 
committee for that purpose. A temporary chairman is 
nominated by the national committee. Committees 01? 
permanent organization, resolutions, etc., are appointed. 
A permanent organization is effected, and the order of 
business adopted is taken up. When the order of bal- 
loting for candidates is reached, nominating speeches are 
made, the roll of states being called to allow names to 
be presented. 

In Republican conventions a majority of all the dele- 
gates present and voting nominate; in Democratic con- 
ventions, a two-thirds vote is required. 

Before the balloting begins, a platform has usually 
been adopted, setting forth the principles of the party, 
with its declarations upon any pending national issue. 

'At the last National Democratic convention, held since the 
manuscript for this work had been prepared, delegates from the 
territories were admitted. 



HOW THE PRESIDENT IS ELECTED. 83 

The Electoral College. 

Each state has as many votes for President and Vice- 
President, as it has delegates in both branches of Con- 
gress. The combined electoral vote of the states is the 
electoral college. A candidate to be elected by the 
electoral college must have a majority of these votes. 

The electors, according to the Constitution of the 
United States, meet in their respective states and vote by 
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with 
themselves. 

They are required to name in their ballots the person 
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President, and make three distinct lists 
of all persons voted for for both offices and the number 
of votes for each. These lists are signed and certified 
by them and transmitted, sealed, two to Washington, 
directed to the President of the Senate — one list by 
mail, the other by special messenger. The third list is 
transmitted to the judge of the district court in the dis- 
trict in which the electors meet. 

These electors are chosen, then, by the people of 
each state, and in this way. Each party, having a candi- 
date for these offices, chooses, in state conventions of the 
party, its electors. It is of course understood that those 
electors receiving a majority or plurality of the votes in 
the state will cast their votes for the party candidates. 

Each party ticket is headed by the names of electors 
chosen by the party. The ballots are cast in the town- 
ships, wards and voting precincts of the state. At each 
polling place they are counted and the result announced. 
The statements of votes are sent to the county clerk of 



84 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

each county, as a rule, certified as provided by law, and 
the result in the county transmitted to the persons or 
board designated to canvass the state vote. The persons 
determined by the state canvassers to have been elected, 
receive certificates of election. No senator or represen- 
tative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under 
the United States, can be an elector 

Congress is given power to determine the time of 
choosing electors, and the day on which they shall give 
their votes, and these times are the same throughout the 
United States. 

Electors are chosen on the Tuesday next after the 
first Monday in November, every fourth year. They 
vote on the first Wednesday in December of the same 
year in which they are elected. 

Counting the Electoral Vote. 

'the President of the Senate, on the second Wednes- 
day in February next after the election, in the presence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, opens the 
certificates. In order that certificates of the vote of each 
state may be at Washington on that day it is provided, 
that if none have been received from any state on the 
first Wednesday in January, the Secretary of State shall 
send a special messenger to the judge of the district in 
whose custody is one of the certificates, and said judge 
is required to transmit his copy to Washington at once. 
Upon opening the certificates, the votes are counted. 
The person having the greatest number of votes for 
President shall be President, if he have a majority of all 
the electors. The same is true of Vice-President. But 
if no person has a majority then, from the persons having 
the highest numbers, not exceeding three, the House of 



HOW THE PRESIDENT IS ELECTED. 



85 



Representatives chooses the President. In taking this 
vote it is necessary that there be present a member or 
members from two-thirds the states ; a majority vote of 
all the states is necessary to a choice; the vote is taken 
by states, the representation from each state having one 
vote. 

If no candidate for Vice-President has a majority of 
all the electors, then from the two persons having the 
highest number of votes the Senate chooses the Vice- 
President. For this purpose there must be present two- 
thirds of all the Senators, and a majority of them elect. 

If when the right of choice devolves upon them, the 
House of Representatives shall not choose a President 
before the fourth day of March next ensuing, then the 
Vice-President acts as President, the same as in case of 
the death of the President. 

The following table shows the next electoral college: 



Alabama, - 

Arkansas, 

California, 

Colorado,- 

Connecticut, 

Delaware, 

Florida, 

Georgia, 

Illinois, 

Indiana, 

Iowa, 

Kansas, 

Kentucky - 

Louisiana. 

Maine, 

Maryland, 

Massachusetts, 

Michigan, 

Minnesota, 



10 


Mississippi, - 


- 9 


7 


Missouri, - 


16 


8 


Nebraska, 


- 5 


3 


Nevada, 


3 


6 


New Hampshire, - 


- 4 


3 


New Jersey, 


9 


4 


New York, 


- 36 


12 


North Carolina, 


11 


22 


Ohio, - 


- 23 


15 


Oregon, 


3 


13 


Pennsylvania, 


- 30 


9 


Rhode Island, - 


4 


13 


North Carolina, - 


- 9 


8 


Tennessee, 


12 


6 


Texas, 


- 13 


8 


Vermont, - 


4 


14 


Virginia, 


- 12 


13 


Vest Virginia, - 


6 


7 


Missouri, 

Total, 


- 11 




401 




Necessary to a choice, 


201 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



QUESTIONS I 



Tell what you can about how delegates are elected to 
nominate candidates ? Where are they first chosen ? 
To what convention? From what convention tu the 
national convention ? Why are there more than one set 
of conventions ? How many delegates are allowed 
under party rules in the Republican national convention ? 
In the Democratic ? Who calls the conventions ? Who 
fixes the place for holding them ? Are delegates allowed 
from the territories ? In what party ? Give an account 
of the proceedings at national conventions ? Is there 
any difference in parties as to the vote required to nomi- 
nate ? What is it ? What is the electoral college ? 

Tell how they are chosen, where they meet, and how 
they vote ? What record do they make of their vote ? 
What is done with the certificates ? 

How are electors elected ? On what day ? Is this 
the same in each state ? When do the electors vote ? 
Is this on the same day in all the states ? 

Where are the electoral votes counted? When? 
Before whom ? What is necessary to an election ? If 
the electors have made no choice who elects the Presi- 
dent ? By what vote ? Within what time ? If there 
has been no choice for Vice-President, how is he elected ? 

How many electoral votes are there ? How many 
necessary for a choice ? 



PART II 



GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN. 



CHAPTEE I. 

STATE GOVERNMENT GENERALLY. 
Relation of the State to the Federal Government. 

We have already learned in what manner the original 
states erected for national purposes the Government of 
the United States. 

We know that such powers as were given to the 
^National Government, or which the states are prohibited 
in the Constitution from exercising, do not belong to 
the states. Excepting such, the states and the people of 
them have remaining all the necessary powers of govern- 
ment. 

In the union of states each state is a component neces- 
sary part. The states which have been admitted since 
the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, 
are upon the same footing as the original states, and 
bear the same relation to the Federal Government. 

Relation of States to Each Other. 

As between themselves each state is a separate, hide 
pendent sovereignty, controlling and having within its 
territorial limits all the powers of government. No one 
is in any manner subject to the other. 

In some matters of common importance, as we have 



88 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

seen, such as the use of navigable rivers, the matters of 
inter-state commerce, and the like, Congress has made 
laws binding upon all the states and the inhabitants of 
them. But such powers as remain to the people are 
powers to be exercised in each state and its divisions, 
separately from every other state or its inhabitants. 

State Powers. 
State powers of government, therefore, while they 
cannot be enumerated, are all powers subject to the 
named restrictions. The people of each state are sover- 
eign in all matters of state government. Some of the 
sovereign powers may not be exercised ; may lie dor- 
mant. They may be exercised over some subjects, and 
not all. But all subjects affecting the life, health, prop- 
erty, prosperity and general welfare of the people of 
the state, are subjects over which the statep may exercise 
powers of government. 

Form of State Governments. 

The colonists brought to this country the principle 
of local self-government. This principle is recognized in 
the formation of the Federal and of each state constitu- 
tion. The general plan of the state governments is one 
in which the people are sovereign, in which the powers 
of government are exercised by representatives of the 
people, or by the people themselves. The powers are 
separated and distributed into different hands. The plan 
of government, and limitations upon the exercise of 
powers by representatives, and by the people themselves, 
are, together with the principal rights of the citizen, 
fixed and determined, and written in a constitution 
adopted by the people. And in this instrument which 
is the fundamental law of the state, and can only be 



STATE GOVERNMENT GENERALLY. 89 

changed by the people, the times and manner of making 
such change are fixed and determined. 

Each state has essentially the same general form of 
government. Bat limitations upon the powers conferred 
on representatives, and upon the exercise of the sovereign 
power by the people themselves, may be different. 

The constitution of a state, therefore, may confer 
upon the legislature power to legislate only upon certain 
subjects, may limit the exercise of executive power by 
the Governor or other executive officers, may provide 
such a system of courts as is thought proper, and may 
then provide that the constitution shall only be amended 
at stated intervals, and then only by a certain vote of 
the people. In framing and adopting this constitution, 
the people are exercising the power of sovereignty. It 
is final. There is no power, anywhere, to limit, change 
or overrule it. The constitution of each state, then, 
necessarily informs us what sovereign powers are exer- 
cised and by whom, and the limitations imposed upon 
their exercise. Some are explicit and minute, and others 
more general. Some limit the exercise of legislative 
power in one way, some in another. Each of the colo- 
nies had a sort of constitution, in the charters granted 
by the Crown and by Parliament. With the exception 
of those of Connecticut and Rhode Island, all were swept 
away by the Revolution and others adopted instead, by 
the people of the respective states. The two named 
colonies continued state governments under the colonial 
charters. 

States admitted to the Union since the establishment 

of the national authority have had the constitutions 

which were adopted previous to admission passed upon 

by the Congress of the United States. 
4* 



90 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

As a rule, these constitutions were formed under 
enabling acts of Congress, in the manner and by the 
action of such classes of persons as were designated in 
the act. But this plan has not been universal. No such 
act was passed for Michigan. She demanded admission 
under the provisions of the ordinance of 1787, claiming 
the absolute right to be admitted when a certain popula- 
tion existed and a satisfactory constitution had been 
adopted. A brief history of the Government of Michi- 
gan previous to admission is given in the next chapter. 

Divisions of the State. 

For the purposes of government, local and general, 
states are subdivided. These divisions are called muni- 
cipal corporations. That is to say, the inhabitants of 
one of these subdivisions are treated as a single person, 
in the law, by the name given to the subdivision. 

In Michigan these subdivisions are counties, town- 
ships, school districts, cities and villages. Each of 
these will be considered. 

QUESTIONS. 

In what manner was the National Government 
erected ? By what authority ? What powers were 
given the National Government? What powers were 
prohibited to the states ? Can such powers be exercised 
by the states ? 

What is the relation of a state to the Federal Gov- 
ernment ? What are the relations of the states to each 
other ? 

Are the states independent ? What powers of gov- 
ernment are left to the states? Over what subjects, 
generally, may state government exercise control? 



MICHIGAN BEFORE ADMISSION TO THE UNION. 91 

What is the theory of state government in this country ? 
What is the fundamental law of the states ? Are the 
constitutions of the states enacted or accumulated \ 
Tell what you can about the form of state government i 
What is the state \ Are state constitutions all alike ? Is 
the general plan of state government the same in all the 
states ? What power makes a constitution ? 

How can we tell in the different states what sovereign 
powers are exercised and by whom ? Had the original 
states any constitutions ? What were they ? Do they 
remain ? What object is there in Congress examining 
and approving the proposed constitution of a state ? 
How were the constitutions of new states formed ? Had 
Michigan an enabling act ? What claim was made by 
Michigan to admission into the Union ? Have you ever 
read the ordinance of ITS 7 ? What divisions are there 
in the state ? Why are they made ? 



CHAPTER II. 

MICHIGAN BEFORE ADMISSION TO THE UNION. 1 
French Rule. 

The territory now included in the State of Michigan 
was a part of that transferred in 1763 by France to 

1 The few facts given in this chapter have been principally taken 
from "Outlines of the Political History of Michigan," by Judge 
J. V. Campbell. There is an interesting letter written by the Hon. 
A. D. Fraser, of Detroit, which forms the introductory chapter to 
the compilation of Territorial Laws of Michigan, which has also been 
used. Parkman's ' Discovery of the Great West," and his " Pioneers 
of France in the 2^ew World," have been consulted, as have also the 
early maps of the country to be found in the state library at Lansing. 



92 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Great Britain. It ^as a part of the territory colonized 
by the French, and held under the government of New 
France and Louisiana. From its first discovery, until 
the conquest by Great Britain, its history is a part of 
the history of Canada, and most of its French inhabi- 
tants were Canadians by birth or connections. Previous 
to its cession to Great Britain, whatever supervision was 
exercised over the affairs of the territory was by the 
authorities in what was afterwards Lower Canada. 

It is claimed that Champlain discovered this region 
as early as 1612. A mission at the Sault de Ste. Marie 
was founded by Marquette in 1668, and very soon after 
one was founded on Michilimackinac island. This latter, 
as early as in 1670, was removed to Pointe St. Ignace. 
In 1679, La Salle, on his way to the Mississippi, built a 
timber fort at the mouth of the St. Joseph river. La 
Motte Cadillac returned to Detroit from France on the 
24th of July, 1701, with a commission as Command- 
ant, and authority to establish a permanent settlement at 
Detroit. "This was the beginning of the settlement of 
Michigan for purposes of habitation and civil insti- 
tutions." l 

Upon the arrival of Cadillac, Fort Pontchartrain was 
at once commenced. It is probable that no other author- 
ity was exercised in the settlement than by the Com- 
mandant, and that his authority was nearly or quite 
unrestricted. 

Settlers necessarily, from reasons of safety, lived in the 
fort, and so came under the government of the Com- 
mandant. Cadillac was succeeded by De La Foret. Up 
to 1750, various concessions of land had been made to 
individuals by the Governor and Intendant of the 

1 Campbell's Out. Pol. Hist. Mich., 54. 



MICHIGAN BEFORE ADMISSION TO THE UNION. 93 

Province. At the Indian outbreak in 1763, there were 
but three occupied points in the territory now belonging 
to Michigan. These were St. Joseph, Mackinaw, and 
Detroit. Of these Detroit alone escaped capture. Dur- 
ing the entire time Michigan was under French rule, the 
aim seems to have been to discourage rather than to 
encourage emigration and settlement. The territory 
was valuable as a fur-producing district, and the hardy 
men engaged in that traffic in the country seem to have 
been under no particular restraint ; governed by no 
laws. Their particular business w T as encouraged by the 
Government. But what we denominate government did 
not exist in any form. There were neither laws, courts, 
nor officers of civil government. The little restraint in 
any manner exercised, seems to have been purely 

military. 

British Rule. 

After the treaty of 1763 had been ratified, the King 
of Great Britain issued a proclamation for the govern- 
ment of the French possessions. *So much of Canada as 
was afterwards known as Lower Canada, he established 
as the government of Quebec. The country west of 
Quebec not ceded to Indians, was to be left for hunting 
grounds. 

In 1774, the Quebec act was passed by the Parliament, 
by which the entire British possessions west of New York, 
north of the Ohio river and east of the Mississippi, were 
incorporated into the Province of Quebec, and made 
subject to its government. 

This statute established the Canadian and English 
law as furnishing rules of decision in civil and criminal 
cases. The legislative power was placed in the hands of 
the Governor and a council of not less than seventeen, 



94 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

nor more than twenty-three, persons, appointed by the 
Crown, whose acts were subject to be reviewed by the 
King in Council. All the ordinances of the Province 
were annulled. An attempt to introduce into the act 
a provision giving to the colonists the right to the writ 
of habeas corpus, was opposed by the Ministry and 
defeated. 

The act allowed the Council to impose such taxes as 
the inhabitants of the various districts should vote for 
roads and buildings and other local purposes. The crea- 
tion and regulation of courts was left entirely at the 
pleasure of the King. 

From the cession of this territory in 1763, to the 
time the Quebec act went into operation, Michigan had 
been under no civil government whatever. 

Indeed, the preamble to the Quebec act recited that, 
by the former Royal Proclamation, ' ' a very large extent 
of country was left without any provision being made for 
the administration of any civil government therein. " 

And the passage of the Quebec act did not remedy mat- 
ters. The act was itself hateful to the people of the 
colonies. It was denounced by the American Congress 
of 1774. Within a few months after its passage re- 
peated petitions and protests were sent to England by 
the people in the Province. 

An Assembly was demanded and the right to the 
writ of habeas corpus, among other things. Such a 
petition was presented in the House of Lords by Lord 
Camden. It is said an intimation was given the peti- 
tioners that both an Assembly and the writ of habeas 
corpus would be granted upon condition that the principle 
be recognized that Parliament had over the colonies 
unlimited right of legislation. 



MICHIGAN BEFORE ADMISSION TO THE UNION. 95 

This Quebec act is one referred to in the Declaration 
of Independence. Under this act a few justices of the 
peace were commissioned. In 1776, two persons accused 
of theft were tried, convicted, and executed at Detroit. 
They were tried before a justice of the peace by direc- 
tion of the Commandant. The whole affair was a 
mockery, and warrants were afterwards sent for the 
arrest of the Commandant and the justice, who escaped. 
This territory was too far from the Provincial capital 
for the Government, with the means of communication 
then available, to exercise very much care over it. In 
1788 the Governor General of the Province divided it 
into four districts. In the jurisdiction of the district of 
Hesse, which embraced all the country west of Long 
Point on Lake Erie, Detroit, still retained by the British, 
came. 

It was not until this year (1788), that any courts were 
established in Upper Canada. The courts then estab- 
lished were called Courts of Common Pleas; were courts 
of record, with a clerk and sheriff. 

So it was, until 1788, that the Detroit settlement and 
other western posts were left, practically, without any 
provision for civil government. 

In the meantime the Revolution had given the colo- 
nies their independence. Michigan, by the treaty of 
1783, made after the close of the war, belonged not to 
the British, but to the American states. 

The ordinance of 1787, for the government of the 
Northwest Territory, had been passed by the American 
Congress, but was, of course, without effect in Michigan. 
It required a further treaty, in 1794, to obtain possession 
of the forts and posts in this territory. By this treaty 
they were all to be surrendered on or before June 1st, 



yb CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

1796. At the proper time Winthrop Sargent, the Sec- 
retary and acting Governor of the Northwest Territory, 
with General Wayne, took possession of the fort at 
Detroit. The fort at Mackinaw was, at about the same 
time, surrendered. "On the first day of July, 1796, 
Michigan, for the first time, became an American pos- 
session." ! 

It was not until two days after the time fixed for the 
surrender of the western posts, that the legislature of 
Upper Canada passed an act to discontinue holding 
courts at Detroit and Mackinaw. 8 

American Rule: Ordinance of 1787. 

On the 18th of August, 1796, the acting Governor of 
the Northwest Territory set apart the county of Wayne. 
' ' Its boundaries extended from the Cuyahoga River west- 
ward to about the dividing line now existing between 
Indiana and Illinois, and thence northward to the 
national boundary line, including all of the subsequent 
Territory of Michigan, and a portion of Ohio and In- 
diana." 3 

A Court of Common Pleas for Wayne County was at 
about the same time organized, presided over by judges 
appointed by the Governor. There was one session held 
annually, at Detroit, of the Supreme Court of the Ter- 
ritory. Michigan was now governed by the ordinance 
of 1787, an instrument in one sense a statute and in 
another and probably a more accurate sense, a con- 
stitution. It contained six articles of compact between 
the United States and the people of the Territory. 

1 Outlines Pol. Hist., 197. 

2 Ibid., 198. 

3 Ibid., 205. 



MICHIGAN BEFORE ADMISSION TO THE UNION, 97 

It was in 1789, and again in 1792, supplemented by 
further acts of Congress. By its terms a governor 
was to be appointed by Congress for three years, a sec- 
retary for four years, and three judges to hold office 
during good behavior. The governor could lay out 
comities and townships, and appoint magistrates and 
other civil officers at his pleasure. A majority of the 
governor and judges were to adopt for the territory, 
from the laws of the original states, such laws as they 
thought suitable, which were to remain in force until 
disapproved by Congress or altered by a future legisla- 
ture. By the supplemental act of 1792, a power to alter 
and repeal laws so adopted was conferred on the governors 
and judges. The governor and judges adopted a Code 
for the government of the territory. 

When there should be five thousand free male inhab- 
itants in the territory, an assembly was to be elected, 
with a delegate for each five hundred free male inhab- 
itants. When the number of delegates was twenty- 
five, the assembly had power to fix the representation. 
A council of five members, to be chosen by Congress 
from ten persons nominated by the assembly, was 
also provided for, the councilors to serve five years, 
the delegates two years. The governor had an abso- 
lute veto, and could assemble, prorogue and dis- 
solve the legislature. The first assembly was elected 
in 1798 and met at Cincinnati February 4, 1799. 
The elections were viva voce. Three delegates were 
allotted to Wayne County. This legislature elected 
William Henry Harrison delegate from the territory 
in Congress. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was governor. 
The delegate to Congress was instructed to obtain for 
the territory title to the land on section sixteen in each 
G 5 



98 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

township, for school purposes, and the title to the entire 
township of land which had before been promised in aid 
of schools and colleges. 

Indiana Territory. 

By the ordinance of 1787, it was contemplated that not 
fewer than three nor more than five states should event- 
ually be erected out of the Northwest Territory. In 1800, 
Congress provided for dividing the territory, setting up 
from it the new Territory of Indiana, which embraced 
all the former territory west of a north and south line, 
passing a few miles west of Mackinaw. Gen. Harrison 
was the first Governor of the Territory of Indiana. 
The seat of government of the Northwest Territory was 
by Congress removed from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. 
The legislature assembled there in November, 1801. At 
this session the town of Detroit was incorporated. In 
1802, Congress authorized the people in that part of the 
territory east of Indiana and south of a line running east 
from the southerly point of Lake Michigan to adopt a con- 
stitution, and annexed all north of that line to Indiana, 
but reserving power to make it a separate territory or to 
attach it to Ohio. This plan threw the legislative power, 
so far as the people of Michigan were concerned, back 
into the hands of the governor and judges. The action 
of Congress was denounced as a political trick. 

But the union with Indiana was for a short time 
only, for January 11, 1805, Congress erected all the 
Territory of Indiana, north of a line drawn east from 
the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, to Lake 
Erie, and east of a line from the southerly bend 
of Lake Michigan north to the northern boundary 
of the United States, into a separate territory, to be 



MICHIGAN BEFOKE ADMISSION TO THE UNION. 99 

called Michigan. This act was to take effect June 20, 
1805. Detroit was made the seat of government, and 
the plan of government provided for in the act was in 
all respects similar to the one provided in the ordinances 
of 1787 and 1789. 

Territory of Michigan. 

On the 2d of July, 1805, the territorial government 
was organized with William Hull, governor, Stanley 
Griswold, secretary, and A. B. Woodward and Frederick 
Bates, judges. A third judge, John Griffin, was ap- 
pointed the next year. Judge Woodward was presiding 
judge. District courts were created, held by a chief 
justice and two associate justices, appointed by the 
governor. 

During the administration of Hull, little seems to 
have been done or attempted to advance the prosperity 
of the territory Quarrels and bickerings seem to have 
occupied a considerable share of the time and energy of 
those in authority. No counties were laid out. Roads 
were few, and those running up and down the Detroit 
River. Trouble with Indians was experienced. War 
with Great Britain was declared in June, 1812. Sixteen 
years after Michigan became American territory, we 
find it surrendered to the British by its first territorial 
governor. 

This closed the career of Gen. Hull. Time has not, 
despite the efforts of the friends of Gen. Hull, served to 
change the opinion which was then pronounced by his 
fellow citizens. 

From the time of Hull's surrender to the close of this 
war, what took place in Michigan is a part of the history 
of the war. Civil government was suspended. 



100 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The hardships endured by men, women and children 
about the western posts of that day, the use made by 
the British of Indian auxiliaries, the cruelties perpe- 
trated by the savages, if not at British instigation, at 
least by the assent of British officers — all have been 
written. 

On the 28th September, 1813, the fort at Detroit was 
again in the hands of Americans. "The overjoyed in- 
habitants were released from what had become a reign 
of terror. * * * * On the 29th Gen. Harrison issued 
his proclamation restoring the civil authority as it had 
been before the surrender. " 1 

In October, Gen. Lewis Cass was made Provisional 
Governor of Michigan, was afterwards made permanent 
governor, and William Woodbridge was appointed sec- 
retary. Wayne County was again laid out to include 
that part of the territory in which the Indian title to 
lands had been extinguished, and the whole territory 
was divided into road districts. 

On the 19th of April, 1816, Indiana was authorized 
to form a state government, and was admitted to the 
Union December 11, 1816. Illinois was admitted 
December 3, 1818. From this time all the old North- 
west Territory, north of Indiana and Illinois, became 
a part of Michigan. In the spring of 1818, the popula- 
tion of the Territory entitling it to a representative 
government, the question was submitted to the people 
and voted down. Though the act for the government of 
the Territory provided that the delegate to Congress 
should be elected by the Territorial legislature, one 
elected by popular vote, in 1819, was recognized. This 
system of electing delegates was continued. In 1823 
1 Out. Pol. Hist., 370. 



MICHIGAN BEFORE ADMISSION TO THE UNION. 101 

Congress transferred the legislative power to the Gov- 
ernor and a council, composed of nine persons to be 
chosen by the President out of eighteen persons to be 
elected by the people. The Council was organized in 
June, 1821:. In 1825, the Governor and Council were 
authorized to divide the Territory into townships and in- 
corporate them; the number of Councilors was increased 
to thirteen. In 1827, by act of Congress, the people 
were allowed to choose thirteen councilmen. Governor 
Cass having been appointed to a place in the cabinet of 
President Jackson, resigned his office as Governor, 
and John T. Mason, the Secretary of the Territory 
became acting Governor. Mr. Mason resigned his sec- 
retaryship in favor of his son Stevens Thomson Mason. 

In August, 1831, George B Porter, of Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania, was appointed Governor, qualified, and 
removed to Detroit. In 1832 the people voted it expe- 
dient to form a state government. 

On the 28th of June, 1831, all the territory west of 
the Mississippi River, and north of Missouri, as far as the 
Missouri and White Earth rivers, was attached to, and 
made part of, the Territory of Michigan. The legis- 
lative council was also authorized to hold an extra ses- 
sion at the call of the Governor. The necessity for this 
arose from the annexation. 1 

Governor Porter died in 1834, leaving Stevens T. 
Mason acting Governor. No successor to Governor 
Porter was ever appointed. "The Council was called 
together by Mr. Mason, in September. The western 
territory was set off into the counties of Dubuque and 
Des Moines, and put into the same circuit with the 

1 Out. Pol. Hist., 440. 



102 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

county of Iowa, east of the Mississippi. A law was 
passed for taking a census of the Territory. " l 

This census showed within the original boundaries of 
Michigan territory a population of 87,273 free inhabi- 
tants. Passing by the setting off of Wisconsin as a 
separate Territory, which was done in 1836, we come to 
the events connected with the admission of Michigan 
into the Union. 

Michigan Admitted as a State. 

In May, 1835, a convention met at Detroit and 
framed a constitution for submission to the people. In 
October, 1835, at a popular election, the constitution 
was ratified, and the following officers elected : Gov- 
ernor, Stevens T. Mason ; Lieutenant Governor, Edward 
Mundy ; Representative in Congress, Isaac E. Crary. 
These persons were to hold office upon the Congress 
ratifying the action of the people, and admitting the 
Territory. A state legislature was also elected, which 
met on the first Monday in November, 1835, and elected 
two United States Senators. There was considerable 
opposition to the admission of the State. No enabling 
act had been granted by Congress for the formation of 
the Constitution. On the other hand it was claimed 
that the ordinance of 1787, was in the nature of a com- 
pact, and entitled the people of the Territory, without 
further authority, to form a constitution and be admit- 
ted, when the requisite population had been attained. 

But the slavery question was the real question 
involved. From the time Congress began admitting 
states it had been the practice to admit a free and a 
slave state together, or alternately. In 1820 Massa- 

1 Out. Pol. Hist., 441. 



MICHIGAN BEFORE ADMISSION TO THE UNION. 103 

chusetts had divided herself to make the state of Maine, 
and thus balance Missouri, a slave state, and acts of 
Congress for the admission of both passed in March, 
1820. 

At the time Michigan applied for admission, Arkan- 
sas, a slave Territory, was also seeking admission. The 
debates upon both bills were bitter and obstinate. The 
bill to admit Michigan, conditionally, was accorded 
preference. It passed the Senate by a vote of twenty- 
four to eighteen, and then the bill to admit Arkansas 
was at once taken up and passed. In the House of Rep- 
resentatives a session of twenty-five hours was held in 
debating the bill, — from 10 o'clock Thursday, June 9th, 
to 11 o'clock Friday, June 10th. The House being in 
Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, had 
twice to rise and report no quorum. The last time, one 
o'clock in the morning, a call of the House was ordered. 1 

Both bills were finally passed and were signed 
together, June 15, 1836. 

Arkansas was admitted unconditionally. Michigan, 
under condition that she give up the strip of land on the 
southern boundary claimed by Ohio, taking in place the 
upper peninsula. The conditions were to be acceded to 
by a convention of delegates, or Michigan was to remain 
out of the Union. 

There is no space here to detail the facts relating to 
the dispute concerning the boundary line between Michi- 
gan and Ohio. The controversy between the two 
states, which grew out of it, which brought about as one 
of its aspects the famous Toledo War, is part of the 
history of the State. 

But Michigan refused to accept admission upon the 
1 Benton's Thirty Years' View, X^hap. 138. 



104 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

conditions named in the act. The feeling of the people 
against the measure soon found expression. An extra 
session of the legislature was called, which provided for 
the election of delegates to the convention, which was 
ordered to meet at Ann Arbor. The convention refused 
to accept the conditions imposed by Congress. 

What followed is thus described by Judge Campbell : 
"On the 29th of October, 1836, a Democratic conven- 
tion of Wayne County expressed a desire for another 
convention, and this was followed by a similar meeting 
in Washtenaw. The Governor, in reply to a request, 
stated there was no time for an extra session of the legis- 
lature, and said he had no authority to call a convention ; 
but he referred to the revolutionary proceedings in the 
early history of the United States, as quite irregular, 
and intimated that a popular convention might be recog- 
nized at Washington. Thereupon, in pursuance of the 
Wayne County action, David C. McKinstry, Eoss Wil- 
kins, Marshal J. Bacon, John McDonnell, and Charles 
W. Whipple, called a convention to be held at Ann 
Arbor on the 14th day of December, and recommended 
that their action be ratified by the next legislature. 
Elections were held, from which many of the people 
absented themselves because they were not lawfully 
held, and the convention met (familiarity known as the 
'Frost-bitten convention '), made up entirely of delegates 
favorable to admission. They at once, and without 
ceremony, gave their assent to the conditions, and 
forwarded their action to Washington. The President 
laid the case before Congress, and it gave rise to much 
debate. The validity of the convention was denied, and 
the matter was considerably delayed. There was a 
general disposition to admit the state, but not to recog- 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 105 

nize the irregular action ; and a preamble reciting con- 
sent to have been given was strenuously objected to. 
The bill was finally passed, with a preamble which 
recited that consent had been given by a convention of 
delegates, ' elected by the people of the state for the sole 
purpose of giving their assent ; ' and Michigan was 
admitted on the 26th of January, 1837." ! 

QUESTIONS. 

Write an abstract of the history of Michigan, under 
French rule. 

Write an abstract of the history of Michigan, under 
British rule. 

Write an abstract of the history of Michigan, under 
the ordinance of 1787. 

Write an abstract of the connection of Michigan with 
the territory of Indiana. 

Write an abstract of Michigan as a separate territory. 

Write an abstract of the admission of Michigan as a 
state. 



CHAPTEK III. 

STATE GOVERNMENT. 
State Constitution. 2 

Like that of all the states, the Constitution of Michi- 
gan is a written one, and the form of government therein 
provided for is a Republican and representative one." 



text. 



1 Out Pol. Hist., 476, 477. 

'Note. — TJw Constitution should he referred to where cited in the 



106 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The Constitution is the supreme law of the state. Of 
course no provision of the state constitution can be valid 
or binding if opposed or contrary to any provision of 
the Constitution of the United States. 

Our Constitution not only defines the form of state 
government, dividing the powers and branches of it, but 
limits the powers of each department, in a manner, and 
defines and declares rights of the inhabitants of the 
state. 

Further than this it limits the power of the people of 
the state to amend or change the Constitution itself. 

Our Constitution first declares over what territory the 
jurisdiction of the state government extends. 1 

It then declares that the seat of government or the 
capital of the state shall be at Lansing. 2 

Then, and following the Constitution of the United 
States, it provides that the powers of government are 
divided into three departments — the legislative, execu- 
tive and judicial, 3 and that no person belonging to one 
department shall exercise the powers properly belonging 
to another, except in the cases expressly provided in this 
Constitution. 4 

The present Constitution was adopted by the conven- 
tion called to revise it, on the 15th day of February, 
1850. 

It was submitted to the people of the state, who rati- 
fied it at the general election in November, 1850. 

The Constitution provides that any amendment or 
amendments thereto may be proposed in either House 
of the Legislature. If agreed to by two-thirds of the 

1 Art. l. 

2 Art. 2. 

3 Art. 3, Sec. 1. 

4 Art. 3, Sec. 2. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 107 

members elected to each house, such amendment or 
amendments shall be entered on the journals of each 
house, with the vote by yeas and nays by which it was 
agreed to. It shall be submitted to the electors at the 
next general election, and if a majority of the electors 
qualified to vote for members of the Legislature, ratify 
and approve such amendment, it shall become a part of 
the Constitution. 

At the general election in 1866, and in each sixteenth 
year thereafter, the question of a general revision of the 
Constitution shall be submitted to the electors. The 
question may be so submitted at other times in the dis- 
cretion of the legislature. If at any time the electors 
demand a revision, the legislature at its next session is 
to provide by law for the election of delegates to a con- 
vention for that purpose. 

An amendment takes effect at the be^innin^ of the 
next year after its adoption. ! 

Unlike the Constitution of the United States, the 
State Constitution was not intended to make specific 
grants of legislative power, but to limit a power which 
would otherwise be general and unlimited, and to impose 
certain duties upon the departments of government. 2 

The states are sovereign and independent. Excepting 
such restrictions upon legislative power as arise out of 
the Constitution of the United States, there would be 
none at all, unless provided in the State Constitution. 3 

The presumptions, then, are all in favor of legislative 
action. An act of the legislature, however, which is 
opposed to any provision of the Constitution, is void, 

1 Art. 20. 

2 Cliristiaricy J. in Sears v. Cottrell, 5 Mich., 256 ; People v. 
Blodrrett, 13 Mich., 152. 

•Ibid. 



108 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

and duties imposed by the Constitution upon individuals, 
officers or bodies, ought to be obeyed. Obedience of 
inferior officers and bodies may be enforced through the 
courts, but not the obedience of one of the co-ordinate 
equal powers of government. 

The judiciary can not compel the obedience of the 
legislative or executive branches of government, no 
more than those branches can control the decision of a 
court. 

Taking up the several departments in which the 
powers of government are reposed, in the order men- 
tioned in the Constitution, we have first, and will first 
consider, the legislative department. 

State Legislature. 

As in the Federal Government, the legislature of the 
state is composed of two houses, the Senate and House 
of Representatives. 

These two houses meet in separate apartments, has 
each its own officers, to some extent a different method of 
procedure, and there are some powers exercised by each 
exclusive of the other. 

House of Representatives. 

The House of Representatives or lower house con- 
sists, as at present constituted, of one hundred members 
or delegates. 

These delegates are elected by the qualified electors 
or voters of the state every two years at the general or 
fall election. They hold office for two years. 

For the purpose of this election the state is divided 
into representative districts, and from each district a 
member is elected by the electors of that district. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 109 

Each of these districts is required to contain as nearly 
as may be an equal number of inhabitants, exclusive of 
Indians not civilized or who belong to a tribe, and to 
consist of contiguous and convenient territory. 

A township or city can not be divided in forming 
representative districts, but where a township or city is 
entitled to more than one representative, they are to be 
elected by a general ticket. An apportionment and 
division once made must remain unaltered until the 
return of another enumeration. The addition to a city, 
by the legislature, of territory contiguous thereto, which, 
though not intended for that purpose, had the effect to 
divide a representative district, was held to be unconsti- 
tutional, it not having been made at a time allowed by 
law. 1 

"Whenever an organized county, with the territory 
attached to it, has a population equal to one-half the 
number required to entitle to a representative in the 
regular ratio of apportionment, it shall be entitled to 
elect a representative. 

The Constitution limits the number of representatives 
to one hundred. Beginning in 1854:, in each tenth year 
an enumeration or census is required to be taken of the 
inhabitants of the state. At the first session of the 
legislature after this enumeration, and also after the 
enumeration taken under federal authority, the legisla- 
ture is required to apportion the representatives 
among the counties according to the population. 
As the population of the state increases, the result is to 
give a representative a larger constituency. That is, the 
districts entitled to a representative will contain a larger 
number of inhabitants than formerly. Then the boun- 

1 People v. Holihan, 29 Mich., 116. 



110 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

claries of the districts will be changed, since the increase 
in population will be greater in some localities than in 
others. 

The division into representative districts of those 
counties entitled to more than one representative, is 
made by the board of supervisors of the county. They 
are required to file in the offices of the Secretary of State 
and clerk of the county a description of the districts, 
specifying the number of each district and the popula- 
tion thereof according to the last preceding census. 

Qualifications of Delegates. — The qualifications are 
the same for Senators and Representatives. They must 
be citizens of the United States and qualified voters 
in the county or district they represent. To be a voter 
in the district, of course, requires residence there, and 
a removal of either Senator or Representative from the 
county or district is a vacating of the office. 

No person holding an office under the United States 
or the State, or any county office, except Notaries Public, 
officers of the militia and officers elected by townships, 
are eligible to a seat in either house of the legislature ; 
and all votes given for such persons are void. 1 

'The Constitution makes each House the final judge of the elec- 
tion, qualification, and return of its members. 

It has not been an uncommon thing for persons to be elected to 
the legislature, who, at the time of the election, and until taking their 
seats, held offices or an office disqualifying them under the Constitu- 
tion from sitting as delegates, who were allowed to sit, having 
resigned the disqualifying office. It would seem however, that if 
the votes cast for them were void, no after resignation of an office 
could make them valid, and that the evil aimed at by the constitu- 
tional provision was in no way reached or to be reached by present 
provisions. 

No collector, holder, or disburser of public moneys shall have a 
seat in the legislature, or be eligible to any office of trust or profit 
under the State, until he shall have accounted for and paid over, 
as provided by law, all sums for which he may be liable. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. Ill 

Disqualifications of Delegates. — The Constitution for- 
bids that any delegate, to either House, shall receive any 
civil appointment within this state, or to the Senate of 
the United States, from any state authority, during the 
time for which he is elected. Nor can any delegate be 
interested directly or indirectly, in any contract with the 
state or any county, authorized by any law passed 
during the time for which he was elected, nor for one 
year thereafter. 

Privileges of Delegates. — Senators and Representa- 
tives in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the 
peace, are privileged from arrest. They are not subject 
to any civil process during the sessions of the legis- 
lature, and for fifteen days next before the commence- 
ment and after the termination of sessions. They shall 
not be questioned in any other place for any speech 
made in either house. 

Compensation of Delegates. — Delegates receive three 
dollars per day for actual attendance upon the sessions of 
the legislature, and when absent on account of sickness, 
and ten cents per mile for distance actually traveled, 
going to and returning from the place of meeting, on the 
usually traveled route. 

For extra sessions they are paid three dollars a day 
for the first twenty days, and nothing thereafter. 

Impeachments. — The House of Representatives has 
the sole power of impeaching civil officers for corrupt 
conduct in office, or for crimes and misdemeanors ; but 
a majority of the members elect are necessary to direct 
an impeachment. 1 

When an impeachment has been ordered three mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives are selected by the 
1 See ante, p. 40. 



112 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

House to prosecute the impeachment. Impeachments 
are tried by the Senate. When the Governor or Lieu- 
tenant Governor is tried, the Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court presides. A vote of two-thirds the Sen- 
ators elect is necessary to a conviction. 

Officers of the House of Representatives. — Each House 
chooses its own officers, and determines the rules of its 
proceedings. The officers of the House of Representa- 
tives are a presiding officer or Speaker, as he is called, 
who is chosen from the members elect, and has a vote 
upon all questions. A Speaker pro tempore, to officiate 
in the absence or disability of the Speaker ; a Clerk, 
whose office is an important one and who is called Clerk 
of the House ; a Sergeant-at-Arms, who is to the 
House what the Sheriff is to the Circuit Court. Besides 
these, which are the principal offices, there are chosen a 
journal clerk, an enrolling and engrossing clerk, a door 
keeper, keeper of the cloak-room, and some other officers, 
besides the pages or messenger boys. Most of the prin- 
cipal officers have assistants, one or more, sometimes 
chosen by the House and sometimes appointed by the 
principal officers. 

The names of most of these officers suggest the duties 
of the office. The office of Speaker is, of course, the 
principal office in the lower House. Besides the duties as 
presiding officer, the Speaker, as in the lower House 
of Congress, has the appointment of members to the 
various committees of the House. The Speaker receives 
no greater pay than other members of the legislature. 

The Senate. 

The Senate consists of thirty-two members or dele- 
gates elected from as many districts. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 113 

Senatorial districts are numbered from one to thirty- 
two, inclusive. These districts, after the enumeration 
of inhabitants are arranged by the legislature. ] 

The qualifications of Senators and Representatives, 
their disqualifications, salaries and privileges, are the 
same. They are elected at the same election and serve 
the same term. Bills may originate in either house. 

1 By Act No. 253, Laws of 1881, the legislature divided the State 
into senatorial districts, as follows: First District — The fifth, seventh, 
ninth, eleventh and thirteenth wards of the city of Detroit, and the 
townships of Grosse Pointe, Hamtramck and Greenfield in the 
county of Wayne. Second District — The first, second, third, fourth, 
sixth and eighth wards of the city of Detroit. Third District — The 
tenth and twelfth wards of the city of Detroit, and the townships of 
Plymouth, Canton. Van Buren, Surapter, Huron, Romulus, Nankin, 
Livonia, Redford, Dearborn, Taylor, Brownstown, Monguagon, 
Ecorse and Springwells. and the cit^' of Wyandotte, in the county of 
Wayne. Fourth District — The county of Washtenaw. Fifth Dis- 
trict — The county of Monroe. Sixth District — The county of Lenawee. 
Seventh District — The county of Jackson. Eighth District — The 
county of Calhoun. Ninth District — The counties of Hillsdale and 
Branch. Tenth District — The counties of Kalamazoo and St. Joseph. 
Eleventh District — The counties of Berrien and Cass. Twelfth Dis- 
trict — The counties of Van Buren and Allegan. Thirteenth District — 
The counties of Barry and Eaton. Fourteenth District — The counties 
of Ingham and Clinton. Fifteenth District — The county of Oakland 
Sixteenth District — The counties of Macomb and Lapeer. Seventeenth 
District — The county of St Clair. Eighteenth District — The counties 
of Sanilac and Huron. Nineteenth District — The county of Genesee. 
Twentieth District — The counties of Livingston and Shiawassee. 
Twenty first District — The counties of Ionia and Montcalm. Twenty- 
second District — The county of Kent. Twenty-third District — The 
counties of Ottawa and Muskegon. Twenty-fourth District — The 
counties of Gratiot, Clare, Isabella and Midland. Twenty-fifth District 
— The county of Saginaw. Twenty -sixth District — The counties of 
Mason, Lake, Newaygo and Oceana. Twenty -seventh District — The 
counties of Mecosta. Osceola, Wexford and Manistee. Twenty eighth 
District — The counties of Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelauaw, Mani- 
tou, Antrim, Charlevoix, Kalkaska, Missaukee and Emmet. Twenty - 
ninth. District — The counties of Cheboygan, Presque Isle, Montmo- 
rency, Alpena, Otsego, Crawford, Oscoda, Alcona, Iosco, Gladwin, 
Roscommon and Ogemaw. Thirtieth District — The counties of Bay 
and Tuscola Thirty first District— The counties of Marquette, 
Menominee, Delta. Schoolcraft, Chippewa and Mackinac. Thirty- 
second District — The counties of Houghton, Ontonagon, Baraga, 
Keweenaw and Isle Royal. 
H 5* 



114 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Officers of the Senate. 

The Lieutenant Governor of the State is the presiding 
officer of the Senate. His duties are similar to those of 
the Speaker of the lower house. A president pro tern, is 
elected, who presides in the absence or disability of the 
President of the Senate, and when he is called upon to 
act as governor of the state. In committee of the whole 
the President of the Senate may debate all questions, 
and when there is an equal division he gives the casting 
vote. 

His pay is the same as that of Senators. 

The Secretary of the Senate performs the same duties 
that are performed by the Clerk of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. He is elected by the Senate, as also are the 
journal clerk, enrolling and engrossing clerk, and, many 
times, their assistants. There is, as in the other House, a 
sergeant-at-arms, with assistants, doorkeepers, keeper of 
the cloak-room, pages, and other officers, and employes. 

Organization of the Legislature. 

The members elect of the Senate and House meet at 
Lansing, at the capitol, in their respective houses, at 
twelve o'clock noon on the first Wednesday in January 
succeeding their election. 

If the Lieutenant Governor is absent the Secretary of 
the preceding Senate calls the Senate to order, and pre- 
sides until the Lieutenant Governor appears, or a Presi- 
dent pro tempore is elected. The same duties are per- 
formed in the House by the Clerk of the preceding 
House, he presiding until a Speaker or Speaker pro 
tempore has been elected. These officers call the roll of 
each House from the list furnished them by the Secretary 
of State. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 115 

Powers of the Legislature. 

We have already said that, subject to the restraints 
and checks upon legislation which come from the Fed- 
eral Constitution and from the Constitution of the state, 
the legislature of the state has all legislative power. 

We will then briefly, under this head, note some of 
the limitations which the state Constitution imposes. 
Some and many of these are in the interest of regular 
and ordinary proceeding. Among these are provisions 
that a majority of either House may do business, which 
is an implied prohibition upon the conducting of business 
by any less number ; each House shall keep a journal of 
its proceedings and publish the same, except such parts of 
it as may require secresy; the doors of each House shall 
be open unless the public welfare requires secresy; neither 
House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn 
for more than three days, nor to any other place than 
where the legislature may then be in session ; every bill 
and joint resolution shall be read three times in each 
House before its final passage ; no bill or joint reso- 
lution can become a law without the concurrences 
of a majority of all the members elected to each 
House ; on the final passage of all bills, the vote must 
be by yeas and nays, and entered on the journal; no 
law shall embrace more than one object, which shall be 
expressed in its title ; that no new bill be introduced 
after the first fifty days of the session; no public act 
shall take effect or be in force until the expiration ot 
ninety days from the close of the session at which it is 
passed, unless otherwise directed by a vote of two-thirds 
the members elected to each House. 

All the foregoing might be classed as duties imposed 
by the Constitution upon the legislature. Yet there are 



116 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

few of them which are not, in a sense, limitations upon 
legislative powers; not powers over subjects of legisla- 
tion, but powers to legislate at all. 

But there are many subjects concerning which the 
legislature is forbidden to pass laws. 

They are forbidden to authorize by private or special 
law the sale or conveyance of any real estate belonging 
to any person. 1 

The legislature is forbidden to vacate or alter any road 
laid out by commissioners of highways, or any street in any 
city, village or recorded town plat ; 2 to grant divorces ; 
to authorize any lottery, or permit the sale of lottery 
tickets ; to audit or allow any private claim or account ; 
to establish a state paper ; to pass any law to prevent 
any person worshiping God according to his own con- 
science, or to compel any person to attend or support 
any place of worship, or pay any tithes or taxes for the 
support of any minister of the gospel or teacher of 
religion ; to appropriate money or property belonging 
to the state for the benefit of any religious society ; to 
diminish or enlarge the civil or political rights, privi 
leges and capacities of any person on account of his 
opinion or belief concerning matters of religion. 

The legislature is forbidden to pass a bill of attainder, 
ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of 
contracts. 3 

1 It has been held that an act authorizing a corporation to mort- 
gage its property was not in conflict with this statute, the act 
amounting to an amendment of the charter.of the corporation grant- 
ing the power. Joy v. J. & M. P. R Co., 11 Mich , 155. 

2 But this does not apply to state or territorial roads. People v. 
Supervisors of Ingham, 20 Mich., 95. 

3 Art 4, Sec. 43. See notes 1 and 3, p. 45, ante. 

In Michigan, under this section, the doctrine is affirmed that the 
provision in regard to ex post facto laws, which is the same as in the 
Const. U. S. refers only to criminal offenses and causes. Scott v. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 117 

All these provisions here noted can, of course, be 
read by any one who will take the trouble to examine the 
Constitution. They are placed here to call especial 
attention to them as limitations which the people of the 
state have themselves placed upon the legislative power. 

With the prohibited subjects and matters the legisla- 
ture is not to meddle, and the business of legislation 
must be carried on in a regular and orderly manner, and 
so publicly and such record made of it, that the people 
may at any and all times ascertain what their representa- 
tives are doing. 

The Constitution fixes the day of the election of 
Senators and Representatives on the Tuesday succeeding 
the first Monday of November, and provides that the 
legislature shall meet at the seat of government on the 
first Wednesday in January, and shall, on the day of 
final adjournment, adjourn at twelve o'clock, noon. 

Election of United States Senators. — One of the 
important duties devolving upon the legislature is the 
choosing of Senators to the Congress of the United States. 

Smarts executors, 1 Mich., 302. In regard to the clause prohibiting 
any law impairing the obligation of contracts, the Supreme Court of 
Michigan have h id occasion to consider it in a number of causes In 
construing its application in the cases that have come before the 
court, it has been held that the rem *dy for breach of a contract was 
no part of the contract: 2 Douglass, 197; 1 Mich., 68; 2 Douglass. 38; 
1 Douglass, 373; 13 Mich., 23; but that a law cutting off all remedy 
where a cause of action had accrued, was a law impairing the obliga- 
tion of con'racts: 2 Douglass, 38; acts increasing exemptions do not 
impair: 2 Doug., 197; 37 Mich., 217; nor acts abolishing imprison- 
ment for debt: 37 Mich., 2.7; nor acts changing limitations of time 
within which to bring actions: 2 Doug., 197; 1 Doug., 173. But a 
law which has the effect to change the conditions, time or manner of 
performance of a contract, as expressed in the contract, or which im- 
poses conditions not contained in the contract, is a law impairing the 
obligation of a contract: 1 Mich., 68; so a law shortening the time for 
redeeming from a sale under mortgage foreclosure is invalid as to 
mortgages previously executed . 1 Mich., 369. See also 11 Mich., 
252; 88 Mich., 380. 



118 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Section 4 of Article I of the Constitution of the United 
States provides that the times, places, and manner of 
holding elections for Senators shall be prescribed in each 
state by the legislature thereof, but that Congress may 
at any time by law make or alter such regulations, 
except as to the places of choosing Senators. 

Congress has passed a law 1 providing the time and 
manner of election. The act of the state legislature 2 is 
a repetition of the act of Congress. The requirements 
of law are, in substance, that that legislature chosen 
next preceding the expiration of the time for which any 
Senator was elected, shall choose a successor. The leg- 
islature for this purpose is required to meet on the second 
Tuesday after meeting and organizing. In each House, 
sitting by itself, each member, by viva voce vote, names one 
person for Senator, and the name of the person so voted 
lor, who has a majority of the whole number of votes 
given, is entered on the journal by the secretary or clerk, 
and if no person receives a majority on that day that fact 
is entered on tbe journal. 

At twelve o'clock noon on the following day, the 
Houses meet in joint convention, and the journals of 
the two Houses are read. If the same person has 
received a majority of the votes in each House, he is 
declared elected. If not, or if either House has failed 
to take proceedings as required, the joint convention 
proceeds to elect a Senator. The rolls of each House are 
called, and the members vote viva voce for some person 
for Senator, and if any person receives a majority of the 
votes of the convention, he is declared elected, provided 

1 Act July 25 1866 ; Rev. St. U. S , 2d Ed., p 3. 

2 Howell's Stat. Chap. 6. It will be seen, Congress having acted 
upon this matter, that the proceedings are the same in each state. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 119 

a majority of members elected to each House are present 
and vote. If no choice is made, the legislature meets in 
joint convention at noon of each succeeding day during 
the session and takes at least one ballot, until a Senator 
is chosen. If when any legislature meets there is a 
vacancy in the office of Senator, that legislature elects a 
Senator to fill the vacancy, pursuing the manner of 
electing as above described. 

Upon the election of a Senator the Governor certifies 
his election to the President of the Senate of the 
United States, the certificate being countersigned by the 
Secretary of State under the state seal. 

As matter of practice, the members of political par- 
ties in the two Houses, meet at some time before the 
day of voting for Senator, in caucus. Each party nomi- 
nates a man, in the caucus, as a candidate for the office. 
If one party has a majority in the legislature, a nomina- 
tion in caucus is equivalent to an election in the conven- 
tion, provided the members of the dominant party are 
pleased with or abide by the caucus nomination. Some- 
times the caucus is not harmonious, the same party 
having several candidates for the office, and often a pro- 
longed struggle ensues before a satisfactory person is 
chosen. 
Apportionment of Representatives in Congress. 

Another important duty to be performed by the legis- 
lature is the division of the state into congressional 
districts. By act of Congress of February 25, 1S82, 
it was provided that the House of Representatives in the 
Congress of the United States should be composed of 
three hundred and twenty-five members, and that when- 
ever a new state was admitted its representation should 
be in addition to that number. 



120 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Under this apportionment Michigan became entitled 
to eleven representatives in Congress. ' 

As at present divided the first district consists of the 
county of Wayne ; second, of the counties of Monroe, 
Lenawee, Hillsdale, and Washtenaw ; third, of the coun- 
ties of Jackson, Calhoun, Branch, Barry, and Eaton ; 
fourth, of the counties of Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph, 
Kalamazoo, and Van Buren ; fifth, of Allegan, Kent, 
Ottawa, and Ionia ; sixth, of Clinton, Ingham, Livings- 
ton, Genesee, and Oakland ; seventh, of Macomb, 
St. Clair, Lapeer, Sanilac, and Huron ; eighth, of Shia- 
wassee, Saginaw, Gratiot, Montcalm, Isabella, and Mid- 
land ; ninth, of Muskegon, Oceana, Newaygo, Mecosta, 
Osceola, Lake, Mason, Manistee, Wexford, Charlevoix, 
Missaukee, Antrim, and Kalkaska ; tenth, of Tuscola, 
Bay, Gladwin, Clare, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, 
Crawford, Oscoda, Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, 
Otsego, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, and Emmet; the 
eleventh, of Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanaw, Mani- 
tou, Mackinac, Chippewa, Schoolcraft, Delta, Menomi- 
nee, Marquette, Houghton, Baraga, Keweenaw, Isle 
Royal, and Ontonagon. 

Judicial Circuits. — The legislature divides the state 
into judicial circuits. This subject will, however, be 
spoken of under the head of the judiciary. 

QUESTIONS. 

What kind of constitution and what form of govern- 
ment has Michigan ? What is a Republican form of 

1 Act No. 33, Laws of 1843, divides the state into three districts. 
Act No. 164, Laws of 1851, divides it into four districts. 
Act No. 181, Laws of 1861, divides it into six districts. 
Act No. 44, Laws of 1872, divides it into nine districts. 
Act No. 21, Laws of 1882, divides it into eleven districts. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 121 

government ? What do you understand by representa- 
tive f What is the supreme law of the state ? What 
does this instrument do ? Over what territory has the 
state government authority ? Where is the seat of 
government ? 

How many departments of government, and what are 
they ? Can the same person exercise the powers of 
more than one of these departments ? What exceptions 
are there ? When was the present Constitution adopted? 
By whom was it adopted ? How can it be amended ? 
When can it be amended ? Who determine when it 
shall be amended ? When does an amendment take 
effect ? Is the state Constitution like that of the United 
States in respect to granting powers ? What is the 
difference % t 

Suppose an act of the legislature is opposed to the 
Constitution, what force can it have ? Is there an}^ pre- 
sumption regarding the constitutionality of laws ? How 
is obedience to the Constitution compelled ? Can one 
department of government control another? What is 
the state legislature ? Tell how it is made up ? Where 
do the Houses meet ? Have they the same procedure ? 
What is the House of Representatives ? Describe it and 
how composed ? For what time, and how, are delegates 
elected ? 

Tell about representative districts and how they are 
formed ? If a county is entitled to more than one dele- 
gate, how is the county divided into districts ? How 
many Representatives can there be in all ? How is this 
fixed ? Can it be changed ? How ? How are Repre- 
sentatives apportioned among the counties ? Upon what 
basis I Do district boundaries have to be changed ? 
Why I What effect does a limited number of delegates 
6 



122 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

have in a growing community ? What are the qualifica- 
tions necessary for a delegate ? Name the disabilities ? 
Give the substance of note 9 ? State for what delegates 
are disqualified ? Name the privileges of delegates ? 
Compensation ? What is an impeachment ? Where is 
the power, in Michigan, to impeach ? Tell what you 
can about the practice when an impeachment is ordered ? 
What officers has the House of Representatives ? How 
many members are there in the Senate ? For how long 
elected? How are Senators apportioned ? What author- 
ity apportions them ? What officers has the Senate ? 
Tell what you can of the duties of each ? Tell when and 
how the legislature is organized ? 

What powers has the legislature ? 

What limitations are there upon the power ? Where 
are these limitations found ? Name the limitations upon 
legislative power and proceedings, and give the reasons 
for each ? 

Tell some kinds of laws it is forbidden to make ? 
When are Senators and Representatives elected ? How 
is the time of election fixed ? 

Tell how a United States Senator is elected ? 

How are Representatives in Congress apportioned ? 

In what congressional district do you live ? 

What is the name of the Congressman from your 
district ? 

What is the number of your senatorial district ? 

What is the name of the Senator from your district ? 

How many Congressmen is Michigan entitled to 1 



THE EXECUTIVE, 123 

CHAPTEE IV 

THE EXECUTIVE. 

The executive power is vested in a governor. " He 
shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed." s 

No member of Congress, nor any person holding 
office under the United States, shall execute the office of 
Governor. 

The Governor must be thirty years oict, must have been 
a citizen of the United States five years, and of this state 
two years preceding his election. He is elected, with the 
Lieutenant Governor, at the same time and places of 
choosing members of the legislature. He holds office 
for two years, and receives a salary of one thousand 
dollars per annum. If two or more persons have 
received an equal number of votes for Governor or 
Lieutenant Governor, the legislature by joint ballot 
choose one of the number. 

Duties. — One of the important duties of the Governor 
is to approve the laws which have received the assent of 
the legislature. If he approves them he signs them. If 
he does not approve them, he has the power to veto 
them, refusing his signature and returning them to that 
branch of the legislature in which they originated, with 
his reasons for his action. As is the case where the 
President of the United States vetoes a bill or act of the 
legislature, the legislature may pass the law notwith- 
standing the veto. The rule is the same in the Federal 

»Art. V., Sec. 6. 



124 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

and state governments concerning the executive approval 
of acts of the legislature. 

He is commander-in-chief of the military and naval 
forces of the State, and may call out such forces to 
execute the laws, to suppress insurrections and to repel 
invasions. 

He may convene the legislature on extraordinary 
occasions, and is required to give to the legislature at 
the close of his official term, information by message of 
the condition of the state, and recommend to them such 
measures as he shall deem expedient. In case of a 
vacancy in the Senate or House of Representatives, he 
orders a new election. This is called issuing a writ of 
election. All commissions issued to persons holding 
office under the provisions of the Constitution are signed 
by the Governor. Except in cases where conviction has 
followed the charge of treason, and in impeachment cases, 
the Governor may issue reprieves, commutations and 
pardons. And he may attach to the pardons or commu- 
tations such restrictions and limitations as he may think 
proper Thus he may pardon a man sentenced to the 
state prison on conviction for a felony, upon condition 
that he abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors. 
The Governor is required to communicate to the legis- 
lature at each session, information concerning all such 
cases, giving the reason for his action. 

In case of a conviction for treason, which is the only 
crime punishable with death, the Governor may respite 
the offender until the case has been laid before the legis- 
lature at its next session, and the legislature may either 
pardon, commute the sentence, direct the execution of 
it, or grant a further reprieve. 1 

'Treason against the state, to which, of course, this refers, consists 



THE EXECUTIVE. 125 

Appointments. — The Governor is vested with author- 
ity to appoint, in many cases, persons to fill vacancies 
in office. He may so appoint judges of the Supreme, 
Circuit, and Probate Courts, and such appointments con- 
tinue until a successor is elected and qualifies. In case 
of a vacancy in any State office, he appoints a successor 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, if in 

session. 

Other State Officers. 

While the Constitution places the executive power in 
the hands of the Governor, it also provides for certain 
elective offices, the duties of each of which to some 
exteut are executive, and belong, as compared with 
other departments of the Government, to the executive 
department. There are also certain boards, having con- 
stitutional functions, in the exercise of which their deter- 
mination is final. 

These elective officers are: Secretary of State, Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction, State Treasurer, Com- 
missioner of the Land Office, Auditor General and At- 
torney General. These officers are elected for two years, 
at the general election. Their offices are at the seat of 
government, and they are required to perform such 
duties as may be prescribed by law. Let us see, briefly, 
what duties the legislature has imposed on each. 

Secretary of State. 

It may be said that in this office are to be and are 
kept the state records. The original acts of the legisla- 
ture are kept by this officer, and he is required to publish 
them. He has the custody of the great seal of state. 

only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. Art. VI., Sec. 30. 



126 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

All patents of state lands and all commissions to appointed 
state officers, are made out in this office and certified by 
the Secretary under seal of the state. A record of deeds 
and other evidences of title in the state is kept in 
this office. The labor of compiling and publishing the 
vital statistics of the state, and of preparing and furnish- 
ing blank forms to various officials for reports to be 
made to the office, is done here. 

Records are kept of the votes cast at state elections, 
of reports of corporations, of the articles of incorpora- 
tion of the numerous corporations organized in the state, 
private and public, and a vast number of societies and 
corporations are required to file in this office the state- 
ments and reports required by law. The Secretary of 
State delivers a list of the members elected to the state 
legislature to the Secretary or assistant secretary of the 
preceding Senate, and to the clerk or journal clerk of 
the next preceding House of Representatives, as trans- 
mitted to him by the clerks of the several counties. It 
is not possible to go into details. The statutes of the 
state must be consulted to ascertain the duties of this 
office. His salary is eight hundred dollars a year. He 
has a deputy. No fees or perquisites are allowed for 
performing any of the duties of the office. 

Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

Has the general supervision of public instruction, 
appoints board of visitors to the university and visitors 
to other institutions of learning, is required to himself 
visit institutions of learning, to compile and publish 
the school laws, with forms, etc.; to furnish county 
clerks with statement of the townships entitled to library 
moneys and to furnish list of books to persons in charge 



THE EXECUTIVE. 127 

of township and district libraries He apportions the 
primary school interest fund among the several town- 
ships and cities of the state. The total amount to be 
distributed he learns from the Auditor General. This 
he distributes according to the number of children 
between the ages of five and twenty years, as appears 
from the reports made to him for the preceding year by 
the boards of school inspectors. He prepares for the 
Auditor General a statement showing the aggregate 
amount apportioned to each county, for which the Au- 
ditor General draws his warrant, in favor of the respec- 
tive couiuy treasurers, upon the State Treasurer. 

He also sends to the clerk of each county a statement 
of the aggregate amount apportioned to each township 
and city therein. 

The Superintendent is required to make to the Gov- 
ernor an annual report. 

See, generally, for a statement of the duties of this 
office, Chapter 196 of Howell's Statutes. 

His salary is one thousand dollars. 

State Treasurer. 

Has the custody of the state moneys. He is required 
to give a bond in the sum of one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars. On the first Tuesday of each month, 
and at such other times as the Auditor General requires, 
he is required to exhibit to the Auditor General and 
Commissioners of the Land Office the moneys in the 
treasury, with a true statement of receipts and moneys 
paid out. 

He is required also to report to the legislature, at each 
session, and more often if required by either branch of 
the legislature, an exact statement of the balance in the 



128 CIVIL GOVERNMENT, 

treasury to the credit of the state, with a summary of 
his receipts and disbursements for the year. This state- 
ment is published with the laws of the session at which 
it is made. The salary of this officer is one thousand 
dollars. 

Commissioner of the State Land Office. 

In this office is transacted the largest part of the 
business relating to the lands of the state. Sales are 
made, and moneys therefor are received. Records of 
state lands and of lands sold and to whom, are kept. 
Interest and taxes upon lands sold but not fully paid for, 
and held on certificates, are paid here. 

The Commissioner has general charge and superin- 
tendency of these matters under the acts of the legis- 
lature. 

Plats of lands owned by the state and for sale by it, 
with prices, etc., can be had at this office. It is the 
place to apply to purchase state lands, to pay taxes or 
interest on part-paid lands, and to full pay part-paid cer- 
tificates. 

It is not possible to specify all the duties of the office, 
and the statutes must be consulted. The salary is eight 
hundred dollars. 

Auditor General. 

This officer keeps the account between the state and 
the state treasurer. No moneys can be paid out of the 
treasury except upon his warrant, and a receipt for all 
moneys paid into the treasury must be taken to him to 
be countersigned. He is required to state all accounts, 
and to examine and liquidate claims of persons against 
the state. Claims which can not be liquidated by him or 
by the board of state auditors, without further legislative 



THE EXECUTIVE. 129 

provision, he is required to report to the legislature with 
his opinion. He is also required to make to the legislature 
at its sessions a complete statement of the funds of the 
state, and of the revenue of the state, of the amount of 
salaries of officers of the Government, and of all con- 
tingent expenses, and appropriations for the year pre- 
vious, and recommend such improvements in the finan- 
cial system of the state as he thinks expedient. He 
instructs those persons employed in the collection of the 
state revenues. His instructions, certified by the At- 
torney General, are binding upon such officers. 

A large part of the business of this office is con- 
nected with the levying and collecting of taxes. 

To understand these duties properly, the tax laws of 
the state must be read. Delinquent taxes are returned 
here by the county treasurers, and can be paid at this 
office, after such return, for a given period. Under the 
new tax law of 1882, as under the old law, lands upon 
which taxes were unpaid are returned to this office, and 
after the interval provided for payment, are sold in the 
different counties by the county treasurers, for the 
unpaid taxes. Formerly this sale took place after a 
certain advertisement of the lands made in newspapers 
of the several counties by the Auditor General, after 
which sale there was a time given the owner to redeem 
from the sale. At the sale, lands not sold to individuals 
were sold the state, and were by the state kept for sale, 
after the time for redemption, and were each year offered 
at the county sales. Now, under the provisions of the new 
law, a chancery proceeding against lands delinquent for 
non-payment of taxes is begun in the Circuit Courts of 
the different counties. 

A decree is taken if there is no contest, and the lands 
J 



130 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

are then sold under the decree of the court. The first 
sale under this law was for the taxes of 1881, and occur- 
red in May, 1881. 

Keeping records of lands delinquent for taxes, of 
sales of such lands by county treasurers, and by the 
Auditor General, employs the time of a large number of 
clerks. A tax history can be obtained at the office of 
any land in the state. Another important duty of this 
office is to apportion among the several counties the 
amount each is required to raise of the state tax. 

Attorney General. 

Is the law officer of the state. He prosecutes and 
defends in the Supreme Court all actions to which the 
state is a party, and, upon the request of the various 
state officers, prosecutes and defends all suits concern- 
ing their departments. He is to consult with, and give his 
opinion upon questions of law submitted by, the legisla- 
ture or the state officers. 

His salary is eight hundred dollars. 

Boards and Appointive Officers. 

Besides these elective officers, there are many others 
required in carrying on the business of the state. The 
duties of most of them are ministerial simply. There 
are also certain boards of public officers. These will 
first be given. 

Boand of State Auditors. — One of the most important 
of state boards is that of state auditors. 

The Constitution has vested this board with two 
functions only, that of determining claims against the 
state, and canvassing the votes for certain officers. 
Their determinations in these matters are final. (See 
Board of State Canvassers.) With respect to these 



THE EXECUTIVE. 131 

matters the board is a separate, independent tribunal, and 
exercises original and exclusive jurisdiction. Its action 
is subject to no review or interference from the courts. 
All claims against the state for which no other provision 
is made by law, must come before this board and be 
examined and adjusted by it. 

The state cannot be sued. Yet it has of necessity to 
purchase supplies, to employ help, and pay reasonable 
and just compensation to its creditors. 

This board is established for the purpose of settling 
all such claims. Unless there is some other mode of 
settlement or liquidation provided in particular cases, all 
claims of state officers and agents are examined and 
adjusted by this board. 

For this purpose the board meets at nine o'clock on 
the last Wednesday of each month at the office of the 
Secretary of State. 

The board has authority to issue subpoenas for neces- 
sary witnesses, and may compel attendance before it by 
attachment, just as a court could. Witnesses are allowed 
fees, which are paid out of the state treasury. Any 
member of the board may swear a witness. When 
claims are allowed by the board they are paid out of the 
state treasury on the warrant of the Auditor General. 
This board is required to submit to the legislature a 
report of all its doings. 

State Board of Eoualizatlon. — The sole function of 
this board is the equalization of the assessed valuation of 
the different counties of the state for the purpose of 
apportioning among them a relatively equal proportion 
of the state tax. In each county, in June, every five 
years, the board of supervisors meet and equalize the 
valuation of wards and townships. 



132 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The result of their action is laid before this board, 
which then proceeds at its meeting at Lansing, on the 
third Monday in August in every fifth year, to examine 
the returns and by comparison, and from information 
derived from the statistics of the state, and other sources, 
determine whether the relative valuation of counties, as 
appears from the returns, is equal, and the personal 
estate uniformly assessed. If they find valuations rela- 
tively unequal, they add to or deduct from the aggregate 
valuation of each county as equalized by the board of 
supervisors such percentage as will, in their opinion, 
make these valuations relatively equal. The result of 
their labors stands as the basis for the apportionment of 
the state tax by the Auditor General until another state 
equalization. The Lieutenant Governor, Auditor Gen- 
eral, Secretary of State, State Treasurer and Commis- 
sioner of the Land Office constitute the board. 

Board of Regents. — Have the general management 
of the University. There are eight of them, elected for 
eight years each at the spring election, two each 
year. 

State Board of Agricidture. — Have the general 
management of the moneys appropriated to the State 
Agricultural College and of the College. There are six 
members, appointed by the Governor, by and with the 
consent of the Senate, two each year. The Governor 
and President of the Agricultural College are members 
by virtue of their offices. This board is a body corpo- 
rate, capable of suing and being sued. 

State Board of Education. — Three members, elected 
one each two years at the general election. They hold 
office for six years. It has charge of the State Normal 
School and control of moneys appropriated for it. This 



THE EXECUTIVE. 133 

board is a body corporate, examines and grants certifi- 
cates to teachers. 

Board of State Canvassers. — The Secretary of State, 
State Treasurer and Commissioner of the State Land 
Office constitute this board. 

The Secretary of State appoints a meeting at his 
office, on or before the 15th day of December next after 
a general election, and within forty days after a special 
election^ and gives notice to the members of the board 
to attend. Two of them constitute a quorum. They 
determine the results of elections for state offices, for 
electors for President and Vice-President of the United 
States, and upon amendments to the Constitution, from 
the returns made to the office of Secretary of the State by 
each county clerk. But for the purpose of canvassing 
votes for electors, the board meets on the Wednesday 
next after the third Monday in November, or on such 
other day before that time as the Secretary of State may 
appoint. 

For the purpose of canvassing the result of the vote 
on any constitutional amendment, the board meets on 
or before the 20th day of the month succeeding the 
election. 

Their determination of the results of any election sub- 
mitted to their decision is final. 

State Board of Health. — Seven members, of whom six 
are appointed by the Governor by consent of the Senate. 
The board thus appointed elects a secretary, who by 
virtue of such election becomes a member of the board. 

The health physician and the clerk of the local board of 
health of each township, city and village in the state, are 
required at least once in each year to report to the state 
board their proceedings, upon blanks furnished by the 



134 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

board, and are also required to make special reports when- 
ever required. This board is given charge and supervision 
of matters affecting the health and life of the citizens of 
the state. The board meets quarterly at Lansing. 

Board of Fish Commissioners. — Three, appointed by 
the-Governor. Hold office six years. Duties to select 
a suitable place for a state fish hatchery, and appoint a 
superintendent of fisheries to obtain the ova from food 
fishes for the purpose of hatching and distributing fish 
in the streams of the state. The superintendent has 
charge of the hatchery. These are the important state 

boards. 

Appointive Officers. 

Adjutant General. — Is appointed by the Governor, by 
and with the advice and consent of both Houses of the 
legislature in joint convention. Holds office for two 
years. Gets one thousand dollars yearly salary. In the 
state militia he ranks as brigadier general. He prepares 
each year for the Governor a return of the state militia, 
showing numerical strength, with all arms, equipments 
and military stores of the state. A considerable number 
of duties relating to the military, arms and military 
stores are imposed by law. 

State Librarian. — Has sole care and charge of the 
state library atothe Capitol in Lansing, and all affairs 
pertaining thereto. Is appointed by the Governor, by 
and with the consent of the Senate. Salary, one 
thousand dollars per annum. Term of office, two 
years. 

Commissioner of Emigration. — Appointed by the 
Governor, at salary of two thousand dollars per annum, 
to -encourage emigration to Michigan from other states 
and from Europe, to act under the advice and direction 



THE EXECUTIVE. 135 

of the Governor. The Governor is also authorized to 
appoint an assistant commissioner at a salary of not ex- 
ceeding fifteen hundred dollars a year. 

Commissioner of Railroads. — Appointed for two 
years by the Governor, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate. Gives bonds in the sum of ten 
thousand dollars. Holds office two years. Salary 
twenty-five hundred dollars. Incidental expenses of 
office, and actual cash outlay for railroad fares paid by 
the board of state auditors. Commissioner appoints a 
deputy at salary of one thousand dollars. 

This officer receives a yearly report from all railroad 
companies doing business in the state, of the officers, 
capital stock, miles of track and sidings, tons of freight 
carried, passengers carried, earnings and expenditures, 
with the source and object of each. 

Commissioner is authorized to examine the books of 
any company, to ascertain the condition and manage- 
ment of all matters connected with railroads in the state. 
Examine the tracks, bridges and rolling stock of rail- 
road companies, to see if they are safe. May order 
flagmen stationed at street crossings, or direct the erec- 
tion and maintenance of a bridge or gate at any high- 
way, street or railroad crossing or intersection. He 
may require a company to furnish sidings and track 
accommodations, for villages of one hundred and fifty 
inhabitants and upwards, and having a post office, which 
are two miles or more from a railroad station and not 
more than one-half mile from the railroad. On or before 
the 25th of each month, every railroad company doing 
business in this state is required to report to the Com- 
missioner of Railroads its earnings from every source for 
the preceding calendar month. 



136 . CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Upon these reports is figured the specific taxes to be 
paid the state upon the earnings of the roads. 

The Commissioner figures this according to the per- 
centage fixed by law, and transmits his computation to 
the Auditor General. The tax is due the first of July 
of each year upon the business of the road for the pre- 
ceding year. 

Bureau of Insurance. — By act of the legislature, 
passed in 1871, there was established in the state depart- 
ment a separate and distinct bureau, which is specially 
charged with the execution of the laws in relation to 
insurance ; fire, life, marine and all other kinds and 
methods of insurance. The chief officer of this bureau 
is the Commissioner of Insurance. He is appointed by 
the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate. Salary, two thousand dollars. Gives a ten- 
thousand dollar bond. Has a seal of office. Too much 
space would be occupied in stating the duties of this 
officer. Generally stated, he has authority to see that all 
insurance companies doing business in the state obey its 
laws. For this purpose and for the purpose of state 
taxation the insurance companies are required to make 
reports to him, showing business performed, in what 
manner, and premiums received. 

QUESTIONS. 

Where is executive power vested ? Duty of execu- 
tive generally ? What officers can not be ? Quali- 
fications necessary ? When elected ? Term of office ? 
Salary ? When does the legislature choose ? 

What about the Governor's approval of laws ? Is it 
necessary ? 

What command has the Governor in the militia ? 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 137 

Extra sessions ? New elections ? Commissions ? Re- 
prieves and pardons? Conditional pardons? What 
information is given of exercise of the pardoning power ? 
What action may the executive take in case of convic- 
tion for treason ? What is treason against the state ? 

What can you say about the appointing power ? 

Write an abstract of what is given under the head of 
" Other State Officers." Name the other elective state 
officers ? 

Tell what you can about Secretary of State. About 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction ? State Treas- 
urer? Commissioner of the State Land Office? Au- 
ditor General ? Attorney General ? Board of State 
Auditors ? State Board of Equalization ? Board of 
Regents ? Agriculture ? Education ? Canvassers ? State 
Board of Health ? Adjutant General ? State Librarian ? 
Commissioner of Emigration ? of Railroads ? Bureau of 
Insurance? 

Write an abstract of the duties of each state officer 
and board. 



CHAPTEE V, 

THE JUDICIAL POWER, 

The judicial power is the authority to hear and decide 
controversies, and to make binding orders and judg- 
ments. By our Constitution this power is vested in one 
Supreme Court, in Circuit and Probate Courts, and in 
justices of the peace. 

Municipal courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction are 

6* 



138 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

also provided for, and also the election of certain per- 
sons having ^/<m'-judicial powers. What is a court ? It 
has been defined as a body in the Government to which 
the public administration of justice is delegated. Within 
the meaning of the Constitution it is a permanent organ- 
ization for the administration of justice. A common 
and essential feature of all courts is a judge or judges. 
Indeed, in common talk, the judge or judges are spoken 
of and to as the court. Courts have dignity and im- 
portance proportioned to the jurisdiction exercised by 
them. Jurisdiction is limited territorially and by sub- 
jects. It is one of the attributes and rights of the 
sovereign power, everywhere, to create such tribunals, 
and with such powers and jurisdiction as may seem best. 
In this country the people may exercise this power 
or delegate it to the legislature. In Michigan the people 
have named the courts, and, quite minutely, the powers 
and jurisdiction of each. 

Jurisdiction: Territorial. — As an act of the general 
legislature can have no force or effect outside of state 
limits, or a resolution of the board of supervisors does 
not operate beyond the county, so territorial boun- 
daries limit the jurisdiction of courts. The process of 
the highest court in the state can not run into another 
state, neither can the judgment or decree of any court 
affect persons or property outside the jurisdiction of the 
court. For example : A person committing a crime 
against the state of Indiana, as a felony committed in 
that state, can not be prosecuted in Michigan courts. A 
mortgage given upon land in Ohio can not be foreclosed 
in Michigan, nor could an action to recover possession of 
a Michigan farm be tried in Ohio. This limitation upon 
the jurisdiction of courts is based upon the principle 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 139 

which has been given Heretofore, that as between them- 
selves states are independent sovereignties; over the 
persons or property of the inhabitants of each, no other 
state can acquire or exercise any jurisdiction or control, 
directly or indirectly. But if A recovers, in Michigan, a 
judgment of one thousand dollars against B, and B re- 
moves to Ohio or any other state, and it is desired to 
enforce collection of the judgment there, suit in such state 
may be brought on the claim, and the record of the judg- 
ment of the Michigan court may be offered in evidence and 
will be received in evidence in the Ohio court. That court 
will only inquire if from the record it appears that the 
Michigan court had jurisdiction of the person of the 
defendant and of the subject matter of the suit. The 
Congress of the United States provided for this by a law 
requiring full faith and credit to be given in each state 
to the judgments and decrees of the courts of every 
other state. But there are territorial limitations upon 
the jurisdiction of courts other than state boundary lines. 
Municipal courts, like the Superior Courts of Detroit 
and Grand Rapids, have no jurisdiction over persons 
residing outside the city. There is also a limitation 
upon courts of general jurisdiction in criminal cases, the 
principle of which is older than any of our constitutions. 
It is that which requires that a person accused of a crime 
shall be tried in the country in which the crime is com- 
mitted. Territorial limitations upon the jurisdiction of 
justices courts and circuit courts will be better considered 
under the description to be given of these courts. 

Probate courts, being courts with jurisdiction over 
things, property, rather than over or relating to persons, 
exercise jurisdiction, as will be seen, within the several 
counties only. 



140 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Jurisdiction; Persons. — We shall also see, when we 
examine the structure and workings of each court, that 
jurisdiction over the persons of individuals must be 
acquired in order to bind them by the judgments and 
decrees of a court. This jurisdiction is acquired by the 
service upon individuals of the process of the court. 
Service must generally be made within the jurisdiction, 
territorially, of the court. It is a generally accepted 
rule that the service of process within the jurisdiction 
does not always confer jurisdiction of the person. For 
example, a person arrested in one state and extradited, 
can not be carried on criminal process into another state, 
and, while held, or after discharge, without a reasonable 
opportunity to leave, be served with criminal or civil 
process so as to obtain jurisdiction of his person. 

Jurisdiction may be acquired over property lying 
within the jurisdiction of the court, when owners live 
beyond reach of process. 

Jurisdiction: Subject Matter. — Jurisdiction is limited 
by subjects. All courts do not have jurisdiction in the 
same classes or kinds of cases. Under this head may be 
included the division in jurisdiction which depends uoon 
the amount in controversy. 

General and Inferior and Special Jurisdiction of 
Courts. — Depending upon some or all of these jurisdic- 
tional limitations, courts are sometimes classed as courts 
of general, inferior and special jurisdiction. A Muni- 
cipal Superior Court in Michigan has a limited jurisdic- 
tion, justices courts and courts held by Circuit Court 
Commissioners are examples of inferior courts. 

All the judicial power of the state is vested in the 
courts and officers named in the Constitution. Let us 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 141 

examine briefly the structure, limitations and powers of 

each. 

Supreme Court. 

This is the highest court, in dignity and importance 
of powers, in the state. As at present constituted it is 
composed of four judges, a clerk, crier and attorneys. 

The present court went into operation January 1st, 
1S5S. Previous to that time the circuit judges were 
judges of the Supreme Court, four of them constituting 
a quorum. 

All the terms of this court are held at Lansing, in 
the Supreme Court Room in the Capitol. These terms 
are four yearly, beginning on the Tuesdays after the 
first Mondays in January, April, June and October. 
Each term continues until all cases in readiness have 
been heard or otherwise disposed of. 

The judges are elected for eight years, one being 
elected every two years. During the last two years of the 
term of each judge he is Chief Justice of the Court. 
This court appoints its clerk, crier and reporter. At- 
torneys of the court are officers of the court. 

Jurisdiction. — The Supreme Court has a general 
superintending control over all inferior courts, and power 
to issue writs of error, habeas corpus, mandamus, quo 
warranto, procedendo, and other original and remedial 
writs, and to hear and determine the same. ! In all other 

1 Writ of Error. — This is an original writ which issues out of the 
Supreme Court for the purpose of bringing into that court for review, 
the record of proceedings in the circuit and superior courts, in which 
proceedings it is claimed by the party applying for the writ there have 
been errors of law committed. The purpose is to procure in the Su- 
preme Court a review of the decision of the Circuit Judge as to the 
law applicable tc the case. 

In practice, in the circuit courts, exceptions are taken to the 
rulings of the court believed to be erroneous. These exceptions may 
be to his rulings upon questions of law arising in any part of the 



142 - CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

cases it has appellate jurisdiction only. It has no orig- 
inal jurisdiction in ordinary cases, either in law or equity, 
the circuit courts being the highest courts of original 
jurisdiction in the state. The Supreme Court is occupied, 
therefore, in directing and compelling the action of 

proceedings in a cause in the court. Matters which are within the dis- 
cretion of the Circuit Judge are not subject to be reviewed in this way. 
Nor can rulings be reviewed by a party who has, notwithstanding 
them, suffered no injury. As, for example, if th3 Circuit Judga in 
a case of prosecution of a person for a forgery or other felony, 
should erroneously instruct the jury upon the law, but the jury 
nevertheless acquitted the prisoner, there would be nothing to review 
on either side. The court may -have been wrong and the jury have 
been wrong ; nevertheless, the prisoner is discharged and the pro- 
ceeding is ended. 

Upon the writ issuing, a bill of exceptions is settled by the Cir- 
cuit Judge. This contains enough of the proceedings in the court 
below to enable the appellate court to understand the questions 
raised and to decide them. No matters are considered in the Supreme 
Court, unless called to the attention of the Circuit Judge. Assign- 
ments of error should be specific, and error must affirmatively appear 
from the record. The record in the Supreme Court is the certified 
return, made by the clerk of the Circuit Court in answer to the com- 
mand of the writ. In the Supreme Court this record, before hearing, 
is printed by the party removing the cause. Briefs are also printed 
for the attorneys on each side of the case. These briefs are brief 
stat ments of the facts in the case and of the arguments and authori- 
ties relied upon. 

The court may affirm the judgment of the court below, may 
reverse it and order a new trial, or may reverse it and enter judgment 
for party who brings error. 

Habeas Corpus. — This writ, and the purpose of its issuing, have 
been defined. 

Mandamus. — This formerly was not a judicial but a prerogative 
writ. It does not purport to decide any rights, but is rather in the 
nature of an award of execution. It is a method of compelling the 
performance of an acknowledged duty, or of enforcing an existing 
right. It is a discretionary writ. 

It is issued to inferior courts and to public officers, to compel the" 
performance of a specified duty. Its use has been extended so as to 
more directly than formerly embrace cases of private right. 

These writs seem formerly to have been commands or letters 
missive from the sovereign directly to the subject, commanding the 
performance of some duty, and were issued without the intervention 
of the courts. In this country the writ has lost its prerogative aspect, 
but is still regarded as an extraordinary remedy. 

An injunction is essentially a preventive remedy, mandamus a 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 143 

inferior courts and bodies and in determining such ques- 
tions as come before it upon error or on appeal from 
lower courts. One duty imposed by the Constitution 
is, that it shall make general rules establishing, amend- 

remedial one. It is one of the highest writs issued from our courts, 
and onlj' aimed where there is a clear and specified legal right to be 
enforced, or a dutj r which can be and ought to be performed. It is 
never granted in doubtful cases, nor, generally, where there is any 
other adequate remedy. Its object is not to supersede legal remedies, 
but to supply the want of them. Nor will it ever be issued when it 
is apparent that if issued it will prove fruitless. The granting of the 
writ is the exercise of original jurisdiction. Showing for the writ is 
made upon sworn petition setting up the facts relied upon to sustain 
the right. 

It is not the general practice in Michigan to issue the writ in 
either a peremptoiy or alternative form, but to make an order directed 
to the person or body against whom the writ is sought, requiring 
cause to be shown why mandamus should not issue. The reply to 
this order is called the answer. 

If the answer shows reasons or facts conclusive against the writ, 
the application will be dismissed. If upon the coming in of the 
answer material facts stated in the application are denied, an 
issue may be framed to tiy the questions of fact raised, and such 
issue sent down to some Circuit Court for trial. Upon the deter- 
mination, by a jury, of the questions of fact raised, the peremptory 
writ will issue or be denied, as seems right. 

Quo Warranto. — This writ is obsolete. Informations in the 
nature of a quo warranto may be filed by certain public officers, like 
the Attorney General of the State, to inquire into cases of unlawful 
intrusions and usurpations of office and the unlawful exercise of 
franchises. These are filed in the name of the people on the relation 
of some person who has the right to complain. Upon the filing of 
the information, issues may be framed upon it and sent clown to the 
circuit for trial. In such cases it continues as an original case in the 
Supreme Court. If proceedings are to test a person's right to an 
office, the burden is upon respondent to show himself entitled to the 
office. 

The information is often filed against private corporations to 
remedy mis-user, non-user or usurpation of corporate franchises. 
The proceedings are the same in all cases. 

Procedendo. — This is a writ issuing from a superior court to one 
of inferior jurisdiction commanding it to proceed to the final hear- 
ing and determination of a cause. It issues where an action is 
removed to a superior court by habeas corpus, certiorari, or writ of 
privilege, and it does not appear to such appellate court that the sug- 
gestion upon which such cause was removed is sufficiently proved. 
It is in remitting the cause to the lower court that the writ issues. 



144 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

ing and modifying the practice in its own court and in 
the Circuit Courts. 

No minute description of the manner in which this 
court performs the duties imposed upon it can be given. 

As a rule, in law cases, questions of law only are 
considered to ascertain if, in the trial of the cause in the 
lower court, any error of law has been committed. 
When an appeal is taken to this court in a Chancery 
case, the court considers both law and facts, and may 
make a finding of facts entirely opposed to that made by 
the court below. All writs and process issuing out of 
this court is styled, fc 'In the name of the people of the 
State of Michigan. " They may run into and be served 
in any county in the state. 

The court has a seal which is affixed to or impressed 
on all its orders and all process issuing out of it. 

Decisions of the court, with reasons for them, are 
required to be in writing, signed by the judges concur- 
ring in them. 

If a judge dissents from the decision of the court, he 
is required to give his reasons for it in writing. These 
opinions are filed with the clerk of the court. Three j udges 
must agree in reversing a judgment or decree of a lower 
court. Cases are affirmed upon an equal division of the 
court, three judges assenting to affirmance, and such an 
affirmance can not be questioned by any other tribunal. 

The opinions of this court are published in printed 
volumes of reports, at intervals. It is the business of 
the reporter to prepare copies of the opinions for th e 
printer, with such statements of facts as are necessary, 
and with proper head notes giving the gist or an abstract 
of the matter decided. This is done under the super- 
vision of the court. There are now in all fifty-three 



THE JUDICIAL POWER, 145 

volumes of Michigan Reports, extending over the time 
from January, 1845, to nearly the present time. The 
first two of these are called first or 1 and second or 2 Doug- 
lass. The others are numbered consecutively from 1 to 
51. There are also two volumes of reports of decisions 
of the Court of Chancery, when that court existed 
separately from courts of common law. One of these, 
called Harrington's Chancery Reports, contains the cases 
determined by the Court of Chancery from 1836 to 1842; 
the other, called Walker's Chancery Reports, contains 
cases determined from 1842 to 1845. References to 
these reports are made by referring to the name of the 
case, the report, and the page in the report where the 
case is reported. Common abbreviations are Harr., or 
Har. Ch., or H. for Harrington; W., Walk. Ch. or 
Walk, for Walker's, and 1, 2, 3, etc., Mich., for the 
regular reports. Douglass's reports are cited as 1 or 2 
Doug, or Douglass. As finally determined in this court, 
the law is the law of the state, binding upon all citizens, 
courts and officers of the state. 

We already know that this court can not exercise 
control over the executive or legislative branches ot the 
government, neither can it change in any way the deter- 
mination of officers vested by law with discretionary 
powers, so long as exercised in the proper, legal 
methods. The verdict of a j ury can not be set aside, if 
the law applicable to the case was correctly given to 
them by the court trying the case. Each judge is paid 
four thousand dollars a year from the state treasury. 

Clerk. — The clerk of this court holds office at the 
pleasure of the court, he keeps the records of all the pro- 
ceedings of the court, attends its sessions, receives and 
files all records and papers required to be filed in his 
K 7 



146 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

office, and issues out of the court under its seal the 
orders and process of the court. He receives a salary 
from the state of three hundred dollars. His pay is 
principally from fees received from suitors. 

Crier. — The crier attends the sessions of court, opens 
and closes court, serves its orders and process, and attends 
generally as officer in waiting, performing the duties 
performed by sheriffs in the Circuit Courts. 

Circuit Courts: Jurisdiction. 

As has been said, Circuit Courts are courts of the 
highest original jurisdiction. 

They have original jurisdiction in all matters, civil 
and criminal, not excepted in the Constitution, and not 
prohibited by law; and appellate jurisdiction from all 
inferior courts and tribunals and supervisorv control 
over the same. 

These courts have also power to issue the writs here- 
tofore named, and other writs necessary to carry into 
effect their orders, judgments and decrees, ' and give 
them a general control over inferior courts and tribunals 
within their respective jurisdictions. But it has been 
held that they have not power to issue writs of manda- 
mus generally and in all cases where such writs might 
issue, but only to carry out their judgments and decrees. 
They may issue common law writs of certiorari, bat 
can not issue writs of error. Such powers as the Con- 
stitution has given these courts can not be subordinated 
by the legislature to any other court or courts of equal 
or inferior jurisdiction. While these courts have gen- 
eral jurisdiction over the subject matter of suits in 
respect to persons and property, it can not be exercised 
beyond the limits of the county. This is the general 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 147 

rule. There are exceptions in case of executions, of 
attachments, and process issued against joint defendants 
in actions upon contract, one of whom is served with 
process in the county. There is also an exception in 
certain actions of tort relating to real estate. But the 
rule is that the Circuit Court for each county sits within 
the county, and is restricted to its limits. 

Jurisdiction: Amount. — The Circuit Court has juris- 
diction in all civil cases where the amount in controversy 
exceeds one hundred dollars. In actions of tort the 
jurisdiction beyond one hundred dollars is exclusive, and 
in actions on contract, is exclusive beyond three hundred 
dollars. 

Jurisdiction: Criminal. — Certain criminal jurisdic- 
tion is given to justices of the peace, to police justices in 
cities, and to the Recorder's Court of Detroit. The 
jurisdiction of justices, in such cases, will be explained 
under the head of Justices' Courts. The Recorder's 
Court exercises iurisdiction in cases arising in the city 
of Detroit. 

Excepting this, Circuit Courts have general jurisdic- 
tion in all criminal cases. 

Jurisdiction: Equity. — By statute, under the direc- 
tion of the constitutional provision, Chancery Courts as 
tribunals separate and distinct from the Circuit Courts 
are abolished. The several Circuit Courts are courts of 
chancery within and for their respective counties, and 
the powers of such a court are exercised by the Circuit 
Judge. 

Jurisdiction: Appellate. — Besides the original juris- 
diction of Circuit Courts, they have appellate jurisdic- 
tion in a large variety of cases. While, as has been 
seen, they can not issue a writ of error, they do issue 



148 CIVIL GOVERNMENT, 

writs of certiorari to justices of the peace, and to local 
boards and bodies exercising <7w<m-judicial authority, for 
the purpose of reviewing their action. Special appeals 
may also be taken from justices of the peace to the Cir- 
cuit Court, the questions raised on certiorari and on 
special appeals being not greatly different, or raised in a 
different manner than if upon a writ of error to the Cir- 
cuit Court. The largest number of appellate proceed- 
ings in the Circuit Courts come there on general appeal 
from justices of the peace. Both civil and criminal cases 
are taken up in this way. Any criminal case, when con- 
viction has followed in the justices' court, may be appealed 
to the Circuit Court ; any civil action where judgment 
has been rendered, for plaintiff or defendant, may be 
appealed to the Circuit Court. On general appeal, these 
cases are tried as though for the first time. The sen- 
tence in a criminal case appealed from justices 1 court can 
be no greater than the justice could have inflicted, 
though it may be either more or less severe than the one 
he did inflict. In civil appeal cases, costs in the Circuit 
Court are in the discretion of the court. Besides these, 
appeals general and special lie from proceedings had 
before Circuit Court Commissioners, before the Probate 
Courts, and, in matters submitted to arbitration under 
statutory provisions, the award is filed and judgment 
entered and enforced in the Circuit Court. 

The Court. 

The officers of the Circuit Court for any county are 
the Circuit Judge, the clerk of the court, sheriff and his 
deputies, stenographer, and the attorneys of the court. 

The Judge. — Is elected in ea.ch judicial circuit for six 
years. His salary is twenty-five hundred dollars a year, 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 149 

paid from the state treasury. He is the presiding officer 
of the court, and has authority, subject to that of the 
Supreme Court, to make rules for the orderly conduct 
of business in court. 1 The judge appoints, two years in 
advance, the times for holding court in his circuit, and 
notice thereof is published in a newspaper in each 
county. He may hold adjourned or special terms of 
court. 

Clerk. — The clerk of each county is the clerk of the 
Circuit Court for the countv and register of the Circuit 
Court in Chancery. It is his duty to attend, in person or 
by deputy, all sessions of the court, to keep the records 
and files of the court, the seal of the court, and a record 
of all proceedings in court which require to be of 
record. 

He or his deputy swears the witnesses in the trial of 
causes. The county clerks are paid a salary for services 
in criminal cases and for performing county business, 
and as clerk to the board of supervisors. In civil causes 
they are Daid for their services by the parties for whom 

1 Michigan is divided by the Legislature into twenty- eight judicial 
circuits, by counties, as follows: First — Lenawee, Hillsdale; second — 
Berrien, Cass ; third — Wayne ; fourth - Ingham, Jackson ; fifth — Barry, 
Eaton, Calhoun; sixth — Lapeer, Oakland; seventh — Genesee, Shia- 
waasee, Livingston; eighth — Montcalm, Ionia, Clinton; ninth — Kala- 
mazoo, Van Buren; tenth — Saginaw ; eleventh — Chippewa, Mackinac, 
Mauitou, Schoolcraft; twelfth — Ontonagon Houghton, Kewenaw, 
Baraga, Isle Royal; thirteenth — Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Em- 
met. Grand Traverse. Leefanaw; fourteenth — Muskegon, Oceana; 
fifteenth St. Joseph, Branch; sixteenth — St. Clair, Macomb: seven- 
fre,it/> — Kent; eighteenth — Hay, Ogemaw; nineteenth — Benzie, Lake, 
Manistee, Mason. Osceola; twentieth — iUlegan, Ottawa; twenty -first — 
Clare, Gladwin. Gratiot, Isabella, Midland; twenty -second — Monroe, 
Washtenaw: twenty-third —Alcona, Iosco, Oscoda, Crawford; twenty - 
/owrta— Huron, Sanilac, Tuscola; twenty-fifth — Marquette, Delta, 
Menominee; twenty-sixth — Alpena. Presque Tsle, Montmorency, Ot- 
sego-, twenty-seventh — Mecosta, Newaygo; twenty-eighth — Kalkaska, 
Missaukee, Roscommon, Wexford. 



150 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT. 

service is performed, according to a fee-bill made by the 
legislature. 

Sheriff. — We have learned pretty well that the sheriff 
is the executive officer of the court, attends to open and 
close and adjourn the court, to preserve order, and to 
execute the orders and process of the court. Prisoners 
on trial in the Circuit Court are in his custody, and are 
brought to and taken from court under his charge. 

Terms of Court. — We have already ascertained that 
the judges appoint the times for sessions of court. They 
are obliged to hold two terms of court a year in every 
county, three terms in counties having more than seven 
thousand inhabitants and four terms a year in counties 
having ten thousand inhabitants. Terms of court are 
usually held at the county seats of each county, though 
there is no reason why terms of court should not be held 
elsewhere in the county if the legislature deem it best. 

County of Wayne. — In the county of Wayne, which 
is a judicial circuit by itself, there are three circuit 
judges; one of these is the presiding judge, and when 
three are sitting together, the concurrence of two is 
sufficient to decide any matter. The presiding judge 
distributes the cases which are for trial, assigning cer- 
tain cases or classes of cases to each judge for trial. 
They hold separate courts in separate rooms, as if each 
judge was the only judge of the circuit, each one trying 
such cases as have been assigned him. A record of pro- 
ceedings before each judge is entered in the journal of 
the court as though all three judges were sitting together 
and is verified by the signature of the presiding judge. 
Whenever the signature of the judge of the court is 
required to any bill of exceptions, order, decree, or 
other evidence of any proceeding, the signature of the 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 151 

judge or judges before whom the proceeding was had, is 
sufficient. 

No stay of proceedings can be ordered in any matter, 
except the judge granting it was the judge before whom 
the proceedings were had, unless the order is made in 
open court or signed by both the other judges. Such addi- 
tional judges were made necessary by the amount of 
business necessary to be transacted in the circuit. Besides 
this court, there is in the city of Detroit a Superior 
Court, a description of which will answer for all muni- 
cipal courts of the kind. This court, as has been stated, 
is not an inferior court, but is a tribunal having the same 
jurisdiction in civil matters as has the Circuit Court. It 
is conducted as the Circuit Courts are, has the same 
officers, and proceedings are conducted in the same 
manner and according to the same rules as in the Circuit 
Courts. But it is a court erected to relieve the Circuit 
Court of business, and from that legal business which 
arises between citizens of Detroit. This is the limita- 
tion upon the court. Parties must reside in the city. 
Its process runs no further. Determinations of the 
court are reviewed in the Supreme Court the same as 
those made in Circuit Courts. 

Recorder's Court. — The Recorder's Court of Detroit 
is a court having jurisdiction of all crimes committed 
within the city of Detroit, except cases cognizable in the 
police court and. by justices of the peace. Prosecutions 
are in the name of the people. It has also jurisdiction 
of offences against city ordinances, and in proceedings to 
open streets, etc. Cases may be removed from this 
court as from the Circuit Court to the Supreme Court. 

The judge of this court is called the Recorder. The 
court has a clerk and seal. Muncipal courts, known by 



152 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



the name of recorders' courts, are not uncommon in 

cities, with powers more or less extensive. 

Police Courts. — Sometimes erected by general statute 

and sometimes by the charter of the city. They are 

confined in either event to such powers as are given by 

the law. Usually nothing but criminal jurisdiction is 

given them. 

Probate Courts. 

Are courts of record, and have a common seal. They 
are not courts of inferior jurisdiction, nor courts of law 
at all. Their origin and jurisdiction does not come from 
the common law. They render no judgments, their 
proceedings are of a summary character and not prop- 
erly suits or actions. Their determinations are called 
orders, decrees, sentences, etc. They have general 
jurisdiction of all testamentary and other probate 
matters. 

These courts are required to be held in each county, 
and the office of the judge must be at the county seat. 
The court is deemed to be open at all times for the trans- 
action of any ordinary business, when the business does 
not require that previous notice be given to the parties in- 
terested. The judges of probate have the power to take 
the probate of wills, grant administration of the estates 
of all persons deceased who were at the time of decease 
inhabitants of the county, or died without the state, 
leaving an estate within the county to be administered. 
They have power to appoint guardians to minors and 
other persons, in certain cases, and jurisdiction of all 
matters pertaining to the settlement of estates of 
deceased persons and to guardianship of minors and 
others. It may be said here generally of all courts of 
record, that where a power is conferred upon the court, 






THE JUDICIAL POWER. 153 

there goes with the power, necessarily, the power to do 
all acts necessary to exercise the powers conferred. 

The importance of this court, in a new and also in an 
old state, especially in regard to property matters, is all 
the time growing. \\ r hen the average life of mankind 
is considered, and it is realized that as a rule the prop 
ertv. all of it, of every person who dies having property, 
passes through the court, or rather that the estate is 
administered under the jurisdiction of this court, it will 
be perceived that in time there will be few titles to land 
which at some time or other are not based upon the pro- 
ceedings had in Probate Court. 

Careful attention to the law provided in such cases, 
following it strictly, and full and perfect record of all 
proceedings, are extremely necessary. 

Appeals lie from the orders and decrees of this court 
to the Circuit Court of the county, in almost all cases 
excepting in matters within the discretion of the Probate 
Court or judge, or orders not final. In the Circuit 
Court, if questions of fact are in dispute, issues are 
framed and the matters tried by jury as in other 
cases. 

The Probate Judge is a state officer, is elected by the 
electors of the county, and holds office for four years. 

A Probate Court is required to be held in each county 
on the first Monday in each month, and the judge may 
hold court on such other days as he may appoint. 

Each probate judge has authority to appoint a pro- 
bate clerk. The Supreme Court has power to make, 
from time to time, uniform rules for regulating the pro- 
ceedings in Probate Courts, and prescribing the powers 
and duties of probate clerks. 



154 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Circuit Court Commissioners. 

These are officers, elected in each county of the state 
for two years, having judicial powers not exceeding 
those of a judge at chambers or out of court. In coun- 
ties having a population of twenty thousand or more, 
two of these officers are elected. No salary is paid 
them. Stated fees are allowed them for their services. 
No person can hold the office who is not, when elected, 
an attorney at law. The commissioner is an assistant of 
the Circuit Court, rather than an independent judicial 
officer. He has no greater judicial authority than can 
be exercised by a circuit judge out of court. Among 
the powers conferred is that of taking bail in certain 
cases, of discharging bail ; power to entertain summary 
proceedings to recover the possession of land; to act as 
probate judge in certain cases of vacancy; to dissolve 
attachments issued from circuit or justices 1 court ; to 
allow writs of certiorari. 

But a commissioner can not try a matter involving 
the title to land, nor can he make any order which has 
the effect to counteract or set aside the order of any Cir- 
cuit or Probate Court, or the Supreme Court. 

Among the most important of the duties of a com- 
missioner are those ministerial duties relating to the 
taking of testimony in chancery proceedings, and to the 
computation of amounts due on mortgages and the sale 
of mortgaged premises on foreclosure. 

Unless under the rules of the court, a party to a 
chancery proceeding in which proofs are to be taken, 
has obtained the right to take those proofs in open court, 
they are taken by some person, reduced to writing, and 
reported to the court. While parties may agree upon 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 155 

some notary public to do this, proofs are usually tasen 
by a Circuit Court Commissioner. In pro confesso divorce 
cases — cases Avhere no defense is made, but the statute 
nevertheless requires proofs to be taken satisfying the 
court that a divorce should be granted — the bill is 
referred to a commissioner by an order entered for the 
purpose, and he proceeds to hear and reduces to writing 
such proofs as may be offered. 

Upon these he is required to report to the court 
whether, in his opinion, the material allegations in the 
bill of complaint have been sufficiently proved. 

He also computes or figures the amount due on mort- 
gages in process of foreclosure, upon the same being 
referred to him by order of the court. After decree, he 
advertises and sells real estate to satisfy foreclosure 
decrees. Where mortgages are foreclosed by advertise 
ment, under the power of sale, the sheriff sells the 
property; but where mortgages are foreclosed in a court 
of chancery, all sales are made by a Circuit Court Com- 
missioner. 

This officer is required to give a bond. 

Justices of the Peace. 

By constitutional provision there can not be more 
than four justice^ of the peace m any township. The 
legislature may increase the number in cities. Justices 
are elected, in townships and in cities. They hold office 
for four years, and until their successors are elected and 
have qualified. At the first election in a township they 
are classified, after election, by drawing lots — pieces of 
paper on which are written one, two, three, four, are 
deposited in a box and each justice draws from it — the 
length of term to be served depending upon the lot 



156 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

drawn. A justice elected for a full term and not to fill 
a vacancy, goes into office on the fourth of July next 
after the township election. Those elected at the first 
meeting in a township, and those elected to fill a vacancy, 
at once upon filing the oath of office and security with 
the county clerk. Justices are conservators of the peace. 
They have authority to administer oaths, to take acknowl- 
edgements to deeds and other conveyances, to perform 
the ceremony of marriage and to hold courts. They 
receive fees for their services, which are in all cases 
prescribed by law. They must reside in the township 
where elected. 

Courts held by Justices. — The jurisdiction of justices' 
courts is limited in many ways by statute. By amount: 
In civil actions they have exclusive jurisdiction where 
the debt or demand does not exceed one hundred dol- 
lars, and concurrent jurisdiction in actions upon contract 
up to three hundred dollars, except as hereinafter stated. 
But they have no civil jurisdiction beyond three hundred 
dollars. 

No justice can try any real action nor action where the 
title to real estate is in question. They have no juris- 
diction in suits against executors and administrators, 
either as principal defendants or garnishees, for the 
recovery of the amounts due creditors of deceased per- 
sons as distributed. 

There are many civil cases in which, within limi- 
tations, jurisdiction is conferred. These can not be 
named here, and reference will be principally made to 
proceedings within the general jurisdiction of these offi- 
cers. Other limitations will show themselves as to 
parties, territory, etc., as we proceed. 

Where Suits to be Begun. Every action begun in a 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 157 

justices' court must be brought before some justice of 
the peace of the city or township, where : First, the 
plaintiffs or any of them reside ; or, second, where the 
defendants or any of them reside ; or, third, before 
some justice of a township or city in the same county, 
next adjoining the residence of one of the plaintiffs or 
defendants ; or, fourth, before some justice of a city in 
the same county, formed from a township or townships 
next adjoining the residence of a plaintiff or defendant. 
This act does not, however, change or limit in any way 
the jurisdiction of a justice where the same has been 
prescribed by the charter of a city. If a defendant has 
absconded, and has property in a township or city, 
action may be brought before any justice of the town- 
ship or city where he or his property may be. If 
plaintiffs are all non-residents, or if defendants are all 
non-residents of the county, suit may be brought before 
any justice of the township or city where such plaintiffs 
or defendants, or either of them, may be. 

How Suits to be Begun. — Civil process of justices 
can not rim into another county nor be served beyond 
the county. Suits may be instituted either by the 
voluntary appearance of parties or by process. But no 
consent of parties can give jurisdiction over subject mat- 
ter, where it is not given by statute. Where suit is 
begun by process, it must be by either a summons, a 
warrant, an attachment or a writ of replevin, and there 
must be separate process for each action. Suits are 
deemed to be commenced : 1. Upon process by war- 
rant, at the time of the arrest of the defendant. 2. Upon 
process by attachment, writ of replevin or summons, on 
the day when process is delivered to the constable. 3. 
When suit is instituted without process, at the time 



158 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

when the parties shall appear before the justice and join 
issue. 

Summons. — This process is usually the first process 
in actions upon contracts, and in a majority of civil 
actions. It commands the constable to summon the 
party against whom suit is instituted (defendant), to 
appear before the justice on a certain day and hour, 
to answer to the person instituting the suit (plaintiff), 
and naming the form of action. Summonses are made 
returnable, and served as follows : If the plaintiff and 
defendant are both residents of the county, at some day 
not less than six nor more than twelve days from the 
issuing of the same, and must be served at least six 
days before the return day thereof, by delivering to the 
defendant a copy thereof, if he be found. If he shall 
not be found, by leaving a copy at his last place of 
abode, in the presence of some one of the family of suit- 
able age and discretion, who shall be informed of its con- 
tents. If the plaintiff be a non-resident of the county, 
summons may be either long or short ; that is, may 
be made returnable as above, or as indicated in the fol- 
lowing paragraph. If defendant is a non-resident of the 
county, summons shall be made returnable not less than 
two nor more than four days from date of issuing, and 
must be served at least two days before return day. 
There must two full days intervene between the day 
of service and return day, and they must be secular 
days. If a Sunday intervene it will not be counted as a 
day. The law provides in what manner, if personal 
service is not made, the action may be continued for the 
purpose of procuring such service. 

Warrants. — Warrants are issued in cases founded on 
contract, and in cases other than those founded on a judg- 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 159 

meDt or contract. There is no space in this work to 
specify the grounds upon which a warrant can be issued. 
It can only be said, that the statute points out certain 
states of fact, which, if made to satisfactorily appear 
to the justice, by affidavit, will entitle the person to a 
warrant. But these facts must be stated positively and 
fully, and the affidavit must make a showing which will 
be within some one of the statutory provisions. Con- 
clusions will not do ; facts must be stated. Warrants 
are served by arresting the defendant, and at once bring- 
ing him before the justice. At once, or within three 
days, the justice shall proceed to hear and determine the 
case, unless parties consent to a longer time or an 
adjournment be had. 

Attachment. — Is essentially a proceeding against 
property. The object is to secure property of defend- 
ant to meet the demand due to the plaintiff. The prop- 
erty being held by the officer, or returned by him to the 
defendant upon receiving from defendant a proper bond, 
the suit proceeds much as in other actions upon contract 
to judgment either for or against the plaintiff. If 
against, of course the bond or goods seized, are dis- 
charged. If in favor of the plaintiff, execution is issued 
and levied upon the property seized, or suit may be insti- 
tuted upon the bond, if the goods attached are not pro- 
duced and delivered up to satisfy the judgment. The 
grounds upon which the attachment may issue are stated 
in the law. They, or some of them, must be made 
to appear by an affidavit to be filed with the justice, 
which affidavit is the paper upon which the writ issues. 
A bond is required before the writ is issued. The writ 
is served by taking property, and by leaving a copy 
with the defendant if he can be found. Not only it, but 



160 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

every subsequent step in the proceeding, must conform 
strictly to the statute. The writ is made returnable in 
not less than six nor more than twelve days from date, 
and must be executed at least six days before return day. 

This is a purely statutory action, and not a proceeding 
after the course of the common law. If any essential 
matter is omitted, the whole proceeding fails. 

Replevin. — This, too, is a proceeding against prop- 
erty, and is the form of action when property is unlaw- 
fully taken or detained from the owner. The suit in 
form is a proceeding to recover specific property. In 
this form of action, title to personal property is tried. 
The writ issues upon affidavit, and before issuing a bond 
is required to be filed with the justice, payable to the 
defendant. The affidavit and writ must describe the 
property detained so that the officer may know what 
property to seize. The writ is made returnable in not 
less than six nor more than twelve days, and it is to 
be executed at least six days before the return day. 

Criminal Jurisdiction of Justices. 

Any justice may hold a court to hear and determine 
charges for offenses arising within their respective 
counties, subject to certain provisions, in the following 
cases. Cases of larcency, not charged as a second 
offense, where the value of the property stolen does not 
exceed twenty -five dollars. Cases of assault and battery, 
not charged to have been committed riotously, or upon 
any public officer in the execution of his duties, or with 
intent to commit any other offense. Charges for will- 
fully destroying, removing, injuring or defacing any 
mile-stone or mile-board, or guide-post or board, or 
injuring or defacing any inscription or device upon the 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 161 

same, or any guide board or post. Charges for willfully 
and maliciously injuring, maiming, or killing any horses, 
cattle or beast of another, or destroying or injuring the 
personal property of another, where the value of the ani- 
mals killed or injury done does not exceed twenty-five dol- 
lars. Charges for willfully and maliciously breaking down, 
injuring, removing, or destroying any monument erected 
to mark the boundaries of any township, or any tract or 
lot of land ; for marring or defacing any building or 
sign-board, and various other enumerated trespasses 
upon public and private property of a small kind. 

Besides offenses or classes of offenses enumerated in 
the statute, jurisdiction is given to try and determine all 
other offenses punishable by fine, not exceeding one 
hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding 
three months, or both. 

The justice, unless an offense is committed in his 
presence, and he at once orders an offender under arrest, 
or the offender is brought before him by an officer who 
has taken him while committing a breach of the peace, 
proceeds upon the sworn complaint of some person to 
issue his warrant for the arrest of the offender. 

But in addition to his duties respecting the classes of 
criminal offenses which he has the right to try and deter- 
mine, the justice of the peace performs many duties in 
regard to offenses triable only in a higher court, 

Offenders are arrested in such cases upon complaint 
and warrant from justices, the same as in cases triable 
by them. But it is for the purpose of determining 
whether the persons charged with crime should be held 
for trial in the higher court. This is done by what is 
called an examination, which the prisoner may waive if 
he chooses, but which, if not waived, consists in con- 
L 7* 



162 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

fronting him with the witnesses for the prosecution, and 
examining them under oath, the substance of their testi- 
mony being reduced to writing and filed in the Circuit 
Court. The privilege of cross-examining witnesses, and 
of making a defense is given the accused, and upon the 
termination of the examination the justice decides 
whether or not an offense, not triable by a justice, has 
been committed, and whether there is probable cause to 
believe the accused guilty thereof. Accordingly as he 
determines the accused is either held for trial or dis- 
charged. 

Something about Proceedings in Courts. 

It will be perceived that reference to jurisdictional 
and other matters has been necessarily very brief. It is 
intended here to supply some seeming omissions, but by 
very general statements. 

Under the general principle which has been repeated 
in this work, concerning the limitations placed by the 
Constitution upon authority, conduct of all officers, 
judges as well as inferior officers, must find some au- 
thority in the law, and all proceedings connected with 
the administration of justice must proceed according to 
due recognized forms. This is a right of every suitor, 
whether plaintiff or defendant, prosecutor or accused. 
Among the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, is one 
that persons shall have the right to have the truth of the 
facts in controversy, in cases brought in courts, decided 
by a jury. The Constitution says the right of trial by 
jury shall remain, but shall be deemed to be waived in 
all civil cases, unless demanded by one of the parties in 
such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

"In every criminal case the accused shall have the 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 163 

right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, 
which may consist of less than twelve men in courts not 
of record. " 

It has been held that a prisoner may expressly waive 
his right to a trial by jury, in justices' court, but not m 
the circuit or any court of general jurisdiction. 

But it must be expressly waived; not demanding a 
jury would not be a waiver of the right. 

In civil causes, the legislature has prescribed the 
manner in which the right may be demanded. 

Both in justices, and other courts, a demand is made 
at some time before trial. 

Since the duty of serving upon jury is one almost 
every American citizen may be at some time called upon 
to perform, a brief statement of the manner of getting 
juries may not be improper here. 

Juries in Justices' Courts. — In actions to be tried 
before justices of the peace, where the parties, or either 
of them, have become entitled to a jury, one is obtained in 
the following manner. An officer, first sworn in civil 
cases, prepares a list of eighteen names of persons quali- 
fied to sit upon jury in the case at issue. From this list 
each party to the action— that is the plaintiff and de- 
fendant, or the People and the accused — strike out six 
names each 

This leaves six names, and a writ called a venire is 
issued by the justice, and is served by the officer in 
attendance, commanding the persons named to appear at 
a certain hour, or forthwith, to try the cause. 

Jurors in this court receive one dollar a day, and the 
t'^Q<. in civil cases, for one day's attendance, is required 
to be deposited, by the party calling the jury, with the 
justice. Parties summoned on a jury may be excused 



164 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

by the justice for certain reasons, and may be challenged 
by the parties. The grounds for excusing or challeng- 
ing jurors are stated in the law. They are Essentially 
the same in justices and in circuit courts, but in courts 
of record certain peremptory challenges are allowed, no 
reason being assigned for excusing the juror challenged. 
When for any reason the jurors named in the venire do 
not appear, or are excused, talesmen are ordered by the 
justice and summoned by the officer from among the 
bystanders, or others, until a jury is empanneled satis- 
factory to the parties. 

Parties in civil causes may agree to try a cause with 
less than six jurors. Jurors in justices' courts must be 
qualified to sit as jurors in circuit courts. 

Juries in the Circuit Courts. — In the circuit courts 
an entirely different method of obtaining jurors is pro- 
vided. By law, the supervisor of each ward and town- 
ship in the county, or assessors or aldermen in cities, as 
the case may be, is required at the time appointed for 
the review of the assessment rolls to make a list of per- 
sons assessed on the assessment roll for the year ; suit- 
able persons, and persons having the qualifications of 
electors, to serve as jurors. The names of such as are 
exempt from such service shall not be taken, nor of 
those infirm, decrepit, not of good character, known 
integrity, or not conversant with the English language. 
Nor shall the name of any person be placed on the list 
who has made, or in whose behalf there has been made 
to the officers making the list, any application to be 
selected or returned as a juror. 

These lists contain not fewer than one name for every 
one hundred inhabitants of the township or ward accord- 
ing to the last preceding census. 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 165 

The selection of persons who were drawn and who 
served the preceding year, is to be avoided. Duplicate 
lists are made and signed by the officers making them 
or the major part of them, and within ten days one of 
each of said lists is transmitted to the clerk of the 
county, the other to the clerk of the township or the 
assessor of the ward, as the case may be. 

The county clerk copies the names on separate pieces 
of paper, as nearly alike in size and appearance as may 
be, and folds them so as to entirely conceal the name, and 
makes separate packages for each township and ward, and 
indorses on each package the name of the township or 
ward. These jurors are to serve for one year. On 
receipt of new lists old ones are destroyed. At least 
fourteen days before the holding of any circuit court at 
which juries shall be required by law, twenty-four, and 
any additional ordered by the court, names are 
drawn by the clerk, three days written notice of the 
drawing being given to the sheriff, and two justices of 
the peace of the county. If any two of these officers 
attend at the day and hour named, the drawing proceeds; 
if not, it is adjourned until the next day, and some jus- 
tice of the county required to attend. When any two 
of the officers required to attend do attend, the drawing 
proceeds. 

The clerk puts into a box one of the packages of 
names, shakes the box and draws out one slip. This 
slip is handed to the officer in attendance and the name 
written down, and then the slips are all removed from 
the box. Another package is placed in the box and the 
drawing proceeds, until the required number of names 
has been drawn. A record is made of the town from 
which the last name is drawn, and at the next drawing 



166 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

the clerk begins to draw from the package next in numer- 
ical order. The persons drawn are summoned by the 
sheriff. They are paid two dollars a day from the county 
treasury. They serve during the term of court for 
which they are drawn. Provisions for the summoning 
of special jurors are made. The judge may order tales- 
men summoned to complete a jury. 

Jurors in justices' courts are judges both of law and 
fact. In the circuit court, they determine the facts in 
issue ; the law is given them from the bench. The law 
exempts a great many people from jury service. Age, 
infirmity, etc., disqualifies. Persons in the militia 
service, and belonging to fire departments. Attorneys 
can not sit on juries. Certain state officers, and officers 
of counties and municipalities are exempt. Exemptions 
are, as a rule, to be urged by the exempted party, and 
are not ground for challenge. 

Any suitor, in any court of the State, may appear 
and prosecute or defend his suit in person or by an attor- 
ney or agent of his choice. In criminal cases the accused 
is entitled to counsel for his defense, and compulsoiw 
process for witnesses. 

QUESTIONS. 

What are the three great departments of govern- 
ment? What is the judicial power? In Michigan, 
where is the power vested ? Tell what a court is. By 
what power or authority are courts established ? Tell 
what you can about the territorial limitations upon juris- 
diction. Give examples. 

What provision has been made for crediting in one 
state, judgments made in another ? By what authority 
was this rule established ? Why ? Tell about jurisdic- 



THE JUDICIAL POWER. 167 

tion of persons. How is it obtained ? Do all courts 
have jurisdiction of the same subjects or classes of cases ? 
What is a court of general jurisdiction ? What is 
original jurisdiction ? 

Tell about the Supreme Court, its terms, judges, and 
other officers. What are the names of the present 
justices of the Supreme Court? Who is chief-justice? 

What jurisdiction has this court? How many terms 
each year ? Where does it sit ? How long is court in 
session at each term ? What courts have the highest 
original jurisdiction ? What original jurisdiction has the 
Supreme Court ? 

Tell what a writ of error is. Write a full abstract of 
this note. Tell what a writ of habeas corpus is, and for 
what purpose it is issued. What is a mandamus ? Pur- 
pose of the writ ( When can it issue ? Upon what show- 
ing % Will it be granted in doubtful cases ? Suppose 
there is some other adequate remedy ? What is the 
practice in Michigan as to the form of the writ ? What 
are quo warranto proceedings? For what purpose insti- 
tuted ? By whom instituted ? 

Tell what a writ of procedendo is. When, from what 
court, and for what purpose is it issued ? What author- 
ity makes the rules for proceedings in courts? 

What is the style of process issuing out of the Su- 
preme Court ? What territory bounds the jurisdiction 
of this court ? 

What can you say about the decisions of this court ? 
What is a dissenting opinion ? Where are opinions 
filed ? 

How are the opinions of this court published ? How 
many reports are there ? Tell about them and how they 
are designated. Give the common abbreviations. Sup- 



168 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

pose you saw the reference, "Marshall v. Brown, 50 
Mich., 148," what would you understand by it ? Is 
there any court which can review the decisions of the 
Supreme Court ? When can they be reviewed by the 
Supreme Court of the United States ? 

What force have the decisions of this court? Tell 
what the duties of the clerk are. How is he paid ? 
What duties does the crier perform ? 

Tell what you can about circuit courts. Where do 
they meet? Who is circuit judge of your county? 
What pay does he get ? From what source ? Gener- 
ally, what jurisdiction have circuit courts ? What are 
courts for ? What limitation is there on the power of 
circuit courts ? What territorial limitations are there ? 
Within what amounts can this court exercise jurisdic- 
tion ? What jurisdiction in criminal matters ? What 
equity jurisdiction ? Are there any separate courts of 
equity ? 

What other jurisdiction have they ? What is appel- 
late jurisdiction ? Tell what you can about the appellate 
jurisdiction of circuit courts. Tell about the officers of 
the circuit court. What is a judicial circuit ? How are 
they formed ? By what authority ? How many are 
there in Michigan? In what circuit do you live ? How 
are terms of court fixed ? What notice is given of them ? 
How many terms are held in your county each year ? 
What is the requirement of law about terms of court ? 
Who is clerk of the circuit court ? His duties ? Duties 
of sheriff? Tell all you can about terms of court. Is 
there any difference between Wayne and other counties 
in the way the circuit court is constructed ? Tell about 
it. Tell about the recorder's court. What about police 
courts ? Write an abstract of what is said about probate 



THE JUDICIAL POWER, 169 

courts. What can you tell about circuit court commis- 
sioners ? What do they do ? Describe the duties of this 
officer. How many justices of the peace can there be in 
any township ? Can there be more in cities ? Are they 
elected or appointed ? Term of office ? When do they 
go into office I If elected to fill a vacancy, when does 
term begin ? Tell some of their powers as justices. 
What is a conservator of the peace ? How are they 
paid '( Can they hold court ? Is their jurisdiction lim- 
ited by amount ? In what cases ? What amount in civil 
cases ? Does value in any way limit their criminal juris- 
diction ? In what cases ? How ? Can a justice try 
real actions ? What is a real action ? Tell where suits 
in justices' courts may be begun. How begun ? What 
is a summons ? 

Write full abstracts of these subdivisions. What 
is a warrant I What is a process ? What can } r ou tell 
about the proper writ or process to be issued in different 
cases ? Can a warrant be issued in civil cases ? When ? 
On what showing? What is attachment? Write an 
abstract of what is said about attachment. About 
replevin. 

Tell fully about the criminal jurisdiction of justices 
of the peace. How may a criminal case tried in justices' 
court be reviewed ? In how many ways ? What court 
can review? Can the Supreme Court? Upon what 
writ ! Write an abstract of what is said about proceed- 
ings in courts. What is a jury ? How obtained in 
justices' courts? Must one be demanded in criminal 
- \ How are they obtained in circuit courts ? Give 
a full description \ Who can serve on jury ? What 
is the difference between disqualification and exemp- 
tion \ 

8 



170 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

May a party to a suit or action prosecute or defend 
in person ? What rights to persons accused of crime 
are given ? 



CHAPTER VI. 

COUNTIES. 

The territory of the state is divided into counties, the 
counties into townships, and the townships into school 
and road districts. This division is for convenience, 
both as determining limits within which the community 
is to exercise local government, and for the administra- 
tion of the general laws of the state. 

For the purposes of general administration of the 
laws, these subdivisions are to a considerable extent 
agents of the state. For the purposes of local govern- 
ment they are as against each other, independent and 
separate. For this purpose, too, certain legislative pow- 
ers are given to them or to officers chosen by the inhabi- 
tants of them. This is necessary in order that the 
principle of local self-government may be carried out. 
This principle is older than our Constitutions, and though 
the Constitution vests all the legislative power in the 
state legislature, the right of this legislature to delegate 
certain powers of a local and administrative nature to 
these subdivisions is abundantly supported b?/ author- 
ity. 

For the purposes mentioned, these subdivisions, and 
the communities inhabiting them, are clothed by law 
with a legal identity. They are treated with and of as a 



COUNTIES. 171 

person or thing ; they are called municipal corporations. 1 
The largest of these subdivisions is the county. How 
large a county may be is matter for the legislature to 
determine, except, that no organized county can ever be 
reduced by the organization of new counties to less than 
sixteen townships as surveyed by the United States, 
unless in each county to be affected by such division, a 
majority of electors shall so decide. The legislature 
may also erect a city of twenty thousand inhabitants, 
into a separate county, if a majority of electors of the 
county in which the city is shall so decide. 

There are in Michigan eighty counties. Of these all 
are organized. An organized county is one having 
within itself the necessary officers and means for per- 
forming the duties and carrying out the purposes and 
powers of a county. The whole territory must be 

1 Municipal Corporation. — A public corporation, created by gov- 
ernment for political purposes, and having subordinate and local 
powers of legislation. Those matters which are of concern to the 
state at large, although exercised within defined limits, such as the 
administration of justice, the preservation of the public peace, and 
the like, are held to be under legislative control; while the enforce- 
ment of municipal by-laws proper, the establishment of gas-works, of 
water works, the construction of sewers, and the like, are matters 
which pertain to the municipality as distinguished from the state 
at large. As ordinarily constituted, municipal corporations have a 
dual character, the one governmental, legislative, or public; the 
other proprietary or private. In their public capacity a responsi- 
bility exists in the performance of acts for the public benefit, and in 
this respect they are merely a part of the machinery of government 
of the sovereignty creating them, and the authority of "the state is 
supreme. But in their proprietary or private character their powers 
are supposed to be conferred not from considerations of state, but 
for the private advantage of the particular corporation as a distinct 
legal personality. As to such powers, and to property acquired 
thereunder, and contracts made in reference thereto, they are consid- 
ered as private corporations. 

A municipal corporation possesses and can exercise the following 
powers, and no others; first, those granted in express words; second, 
those necessaril}- or fairly implied in, or incidental to, the powers 
expressly granted; third, those essential to the declared objects and 
purposes of the corporation, not simply convenient, but indispensable. 



172 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

organized into townships, and there must be more than 
one supervisor. One supervisor can not constitute a 
board. 

Each organized county is a body corporate and politic 
for the purposes of suing and being sued ; purchasing 
and holding real estate for the use of the county ; bor- 
rowing money to erect and repair county buildings and 
for building bridges ; for making necessary contracts 
and doing all business in relation to the property and 
concerns of the county. 

County Seat. — In each organized county there is a 
county seat, which is the seat of government or capital 
of the county. Here are required to be kept the county 
records of the county, and the offices of the various 
county officers, except prosecuting attorney. The board 
of supervisors meets here, and, as a rule, the court house 
is here. Regular terms of the circuit court are held 
here, though the court may meet and hold regular 
terms at such other place in the county as the legislature 
may prescribe. A county seat once established can only 
be removed when the place to which it is proposed to 
remove it shall be designated by two^thirds of the board 
of supervisors of the county, and a majority of the elec- 
tors voting shall have voted in favor of the proposed 
location. 

County Officers. — In each organized county there is 
elected every two years, at the general election, a sheriff, 
county clerk, county treasurer, register of deeds, and 
prosecuting attorney. But the same person may hold 
more than one of some of the offices, and the board of 
supervisors may unite the offices of county clerk and reg- 
ister of deeds' in one office. A judge of probate is 
elected in each county for four years, but he is a state 



COUNTIES. 173 

and not a county officer. There are also elected circuit 
court commissioners, two in each county having a popu- 
lation of twenty thousand or more, and one in each 
organized county having a smaller population. 

The Sheriff. — The sheriff can hold no other office, 
and can not hold the office of sheriff for more than four 
years in any period of six years. He is required to give 
a bond to the people of the state in the sum of ten thou- 
sand dollars, with three sureties to be approved by the 
circuit judge. He appoints an under sheriff, and as 
many deputies as he thinks necessary, for whose acts he 
is responsible. These appointments must be in writing 
and filed in the office of the county clerk. 

The duties of a sheriff are varied. He is the execu- 
tive officer of the county. He has charge of the jail and 
prisoners therein ; serves or executes all process, writs, 
precepts and orders made by authority and directed to 
him, and may serve process from justices' courts as well 
as from the circuit court. He attends by himself or 
deputy upon the sittings of the circuit court, to preserve 
order, open and close the court, and to serve such papers 
as may be necessary or perform such orders as the judge 
may make. 

It is not possible to enumerate the duties and liabili- 
ties of sheriff or other public officers. There are some 
matters decided by the court in reference to the office 
which may be noticed. 

The sheriff is required by law to renew his bond each 
year. It has been decided, however, that if he does not 
and continues to exercise the duties of the office, he will 
still be deemed sheriff in fact, at least, and the sureties 
of his prior bond will be liable for his acts. A return of 
service of process made by a deputy sheriff in his own 



174 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

name, is good. He is not authorized to receive anything 
but money on collections. He is protected in serving a 
writ or process regular on its face. 

County Clerk, — He is required to give a bond in the 
sum of two thousand dollars, to be approved by the 
circuit judge ; is required to appoint one or more depu- 
ties, to be approved by the circuit judge, one of whom is 
to be designated as his successor in office in case of a 
vacancy. He may revoke his appointments at pleasure, 
and appointments and revocations must be in writing 
and filed with the county treasurer. The deputies may 
perform the duties of the clerk. He is required to send 
to the secretary of state annually, within one week after 
the fourth of July, a certified list of all justices of the 
peace of the county, stating the time of their elections, 
their post office addresses, terms of service, and whether 
elected to fill a vacancy. He performs the same duty 
with respect to township and city clerks and supervisors. 
The county clerk is clerk of the circuit court of the 
county and of the board of supervisors. He receives 
such a salary for these services as the board of supervisors 
may fix. As clerk of the circuit court this officer has 
charge of the seal of the court, and of the files and 
records in all causes begun in court. He is an officer of 
the court, and in person or by deputy is present at all 
sessions, keeping a record of all proceedings, issuing 
necessary process, and administering oaths to witnesses. 
A large number of reports, bonds, and oaths of office are 
required to be filed in his office. 

As clerk of the board of supervisors, he attends the 
sessions of the board, and keeps a record of its pro- 
ceedings. 

For his services as clerk of the court, in civil causes 



COUNTIES. 175 

he receives certain fees to be paid by the party desiring 
the services performed. These fees are fixed and deter- 
mined by law. 

County Treasurer. — The county treasurer, like the 
sheriff, can not hold the office more than four years in a 
period of six years. He gives a bond, the amount and 
approval of which is left with the board of supervisors. 
No person holding the office of prosecuting attorney, 
county clerk, supervisor or sheriff, can be county treas- 
urer. 

As the title of the office indicates, the treasurer is 
custodian of the county money. He can only pay out 
money on the order of the board of supervisors, signed 
by the clerk and countersigned by the chairman, except 
in certain cases provided by law. The salary of the 
office is fixed by the board of supervisors. The title of 
all county funds received by the treasurer vests in him. 
He is debtor to the county to the extent of all moneys 
so received, and must account for them. 

He is liable for loss of money by accident or other- 
wise, and if he receives anything else than money must 
account for it in money. 

Prosecuting Attorney. — The prosecuting ■ attorney is 
the law officer of the county, as the Attorney General is 
of the state. He is required to prosecute and defend in 
all the courts of the county all causes to which the state 
or county is a party. 

When requested by any magistrate of the county, he 
is required to appear before the magistrate and prosecute 
complaints made on behalf of the people of the state. 

He is also required to give opinions in cases where 
the state or county may be a party or interested, when 
requested by any civil officers in the discharge of their 



176 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

official duties. The prosecuting attorney must be an 
attorney-at-law and admitted to practice. Counsel may 
be employed to act for him when he is sick or absent, or 
when the office is vacant, and he may, under direction 
of the court, procure necessary assistance in the trial of 
a person charged with a felony. Paid attorneys of pri- 
vate parties will not be permitted to exercise the func- 
tions of the office. The prosecuting attorney is not the 
attorney of the complainant or of any party. He is a 
minister of justice, and bound as well to protect the 
innocent as to prosecute the guilty. In the counties of 
Kent and Wayne, assistant prosecuting attorneys are 
appointed by the prosecuting attorney. 

Register of Deeds. — The duties of this office are 
pretty well known. In this office are kept the records 
of titles of the county. Suitable books are furnished 
by the board of supervisors at the expense of the 
county. The register is required to appoint a deputy, 
and he receives pay from fees collected for recording 
papers. Those fees are fixed by law. These fees are: 
For entering and recording any deed or instrument, 
eleven cents for each folio (one hundred words); for 
copies of records, seven cents for each folio; seal to 
exemplification of record, twenty -five cents; for record- 
ing a deed or other paper written in any but the 
English language, twenty cents a folio; for entry of dis- 
charge of mortgage in margin of the record, ten cents; 
searching the records and files of his office, six cents for 
each year; for filing every notice of the pendency of a 
suit in chancery, and entering the same, six cents; for 
filing every other paper, and making an entry thereof, 
when necessary, six cents. 

Coroners. — Two coroners are elected for each organ- 



COUNTIES. 177 

ized county, with other county officers. As a rule 
coroners perform no duties, though the office may be- 
come at any time a very important one. For instance, 
if there should, at any time, be no sheriff or under 
sheriff in a county, one of the coroners would be desig- 
nated b} r the circuit judge to be sheriff. He would then 
have the same powers and authority as a sheriff. If for 
any cause the sheriff of a county should be committed 
to jail, the coroner living nearest the jail would be 
keeper of the jail while the sheriff remained a prisoner. 
And when the sheriff, for any reason, is a party to or 
interested in a cause, the coroner, or one of the coroners, 
executes process and performs all the duties of a sheriff 
in that cause. 

County Surveyor. — County surveyors are elected at 
the general election. The certificate of a surveyor or 
his deputy is presumptive evidence of the facts contained 
in it, unless he is interested in such survey. But the 
certificate must embrace everything required to be put 
into a record of the surveys made by him, and his cer- 
tificate is only presumptive evidence. Lines, corners 
and boundaries are to be determined as any question of 
fact is determined, by proofs. The surveyor can not 
finally decide upon such matters. He is a useful assist- 
ant, in the eye of the law, in determining such matters, 
but he could be disputed. 

Drain Commissioner. —The board of supervisors of a 
county may appoint a drain commissioner. His duties 
are to lay out, open and construct drains or ditches in 
the county, upon proper application and after deter- 
mining the necessity for such public improvement. It 
will be understood at once, that there is delegated to 
this officer the general direction, superintendence and 
U 



178 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

control of the proceedings for taking private property for 
public use. The proceedings to lay out, open or con- 
struct a drain can not be here given. It is enough to say 
that every step in the proceedings must conform to the 
requirements of law. It is now provided by law, that 
irregularities in proceedings to lay out and open ditches 
may be rectified by proceedings in court. But every- 
thing necessary to confer jurisdiction on the commis- 
sioner to act must exist, and every provision of law for 
the protection of private rights must receive attention 
and be strictly obeyed. This officer is required to keep a 
record of all his actions and of all applications made to 
him. 

Notaries Public. — Certain officers appointed in each 
county by the Governor, by and with the consent of the 
Senate, who have authority to administer oaths, take 
affidavits and acknowledgments. They may exercise 
these powers anywhere in the state. 

Judges of Probate and Circuit Court Commissioners 
are spoken of in connection with the judicial department 
of the state. 

Board of Supervisors. 1 — This is the county legisla- 
ture. It is made up of a supervisor from each organ- 
ized township in the county, and supervisors from the 
cities in the county. The representation allowed to 
cities upon this board is such as the legislature may pre- 
scribe. 1 think one supervisor from each ward is a 
common provision in this state. This board is vested 
with both legislative and executive powers. Such legis- 
lative authority as the legislature of the state has dele- 
gated to the board it may exercise, but no other. 
From the manner of composing the board it will be seen 

^ee Chap. 117, Howell's Statutes; Const. Mich., Art. X. 



COUNTIES. 179 

that each part of the county is given representation. 
This board is required to meet annually on the second 
Monday in October at the court house in the county, 
and if there be none at some place at the county seat, 
for the transaction of business. Necessary special meet- 
ings may be had at such times and places as may be 
convenient, and the board may adjourn from time to 
time as it may deem necessary. A session of the board 
is deemed to embrace all adjournments. A majority of 
the supervisors of any county constitute a quorum for 
the transaction of ordinary business, and all questions 
which arise are determined by the votes of a majority 
present, except when the question is upon the final pas- 
sage or adoption of any measure or resolution, when a 
majority vote of all the members elect is necessary. 
The board sits with open doors, and all persons may 
attend their meetings. At the first meeting after the 
election in each year, they are required to choose one of 
their number chairman, to preside over the meetings of 
the board for the year. 

Poviers of the Board. — Auditing and Alio wing 
Claims. — First among the powers of the boards of super- 
visors, or in Wayne County the board of county audi- 
tors, at any meeting lawfully held, is that of auditing, 
and allowing or rejecting claims against the county. 
Formerly, there was an appeal from the decision of the 
board upon a claim presented to the county court. 
Xow, by the Constitution, it is provided that they shall 
have exclusive power to prescribe and fix the compensa- 
tion for all services rendered for, and to adjust all claims 
against their respective counties, and that the sum fixed 
or determined by them shall not be subject to an appeal. 

The effect of this provision is to make their allowance 



180 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

or disallowance of claims decisive and final. But it does 
not give a board authority to act arbitrarily. They must 
examine claims presented, are empowered to take such 
testimony and make such examination of the matters as 
is necessary. The courts can compel them to proceed to 
examine and pass upon claims. In cases, too, where the 
amount of compensation has been fixed by law, or where 
other modes of adjustment and liquidation are prescribed 
by law, the boards must audit and pay them at the 
amount so determined. 

Nor does the constitutional provision operate to divest 
the courts of such jurisdiction as they possessed origi- 
nally in such matters, but only to preclude them from 
hearing the matters on appeal. A person with a proper 
claim against a county, for moneys illegally collected 
and held, may enforce the claim in the courts. Nor 
does this provision authorize them to determine finally 
the amounts of the claims of their own counties against 
other counties, nor against townships or other municipal 
divisions. But where a board has once passed upon and 
rejected a claim, it can not be compelled to again exam- 
ine it. 

Without attempting any detailed statement of the 
powers of boards of supervisors, we may sa^, generally, 
that they represent the people of the county within 
certain limitations, in the purchasing, exchanging, 
supervising, building, and repairing county property. 
One principal limitation upon their powers is as to the 
amount of money which may be voted by them in any 
one year without a vote of electors of the county. For 
instance, they can not without such vote, expend to 
exceed five hundred dollars in repairing public buildings 
in any year, nor borrow or raise by tax, a sum exceeding 



COUNTIES. 181 

one thousand dollars in any year for the purpose of con- 
structing or repairing public buildings, highways or 
bridges, unless the electors so vote. They can only 
raise money for the purposes specified in the law, and to 
be expended under their direction, except in some cases 
where control of expenditures is turned over to others 

They represent the people for the purposes of deter- 
mining and raising by tax or loan money necessary to 
defray the current expenses of the county. This subject 
will be considered under the head of taxation, farther on. 
But, if a loan is made by them, it must in all cases be 
payable within fifteen years from date. 

In the raising of money for county purposes, they act 
in a legislative capacity, as they do also in making laws 
regarding the county poor, the destruction of wild 
beasts, of thistles and other noxious weeds. 

They may authorize any township in the county to 
borrow money to repair or build bridges. They divide 
the county into representative districts, when the county 
is entitled to more than one representative in the state 
legislature. Upon proper application to any board, it 
has power to erect a new township, to divide or alter in 
its bounds any township already erected. 

State and territorial roads are within the subjects 
over which boards have jurisdiction. They may permit 
or prohibit the construction of dams or bridges over 
navigable streams, and make general rules as to the 
kinds of bridges and how to be constructed over naviga- 
ble streams. They fix salaries of county officers, and 
establish section corners. 

In Wayne County, the board of county auditors have 
all the powers of boards of supervisors, excepting those 
relating to the assessment and collecting of taxes. In 



182 CIVIL GOVEENMENT 

regard to^ such matters the board of supervisors of 
Wayne performs the same duties as do other boards 
of supervisors. The duties of boards in relation to the 
assessment and collecting of taxes — among their most 
important duties — can be best treated in the chapter on 
taxation. 

Each member of the board of supervisors receives 
pay at the rate of three dollars per day for the first 
twelve days only of any continuous regular session, and 
six days only for any adjourned session, and for the first 
three days only of any special session. There can not 
be more than two special sessions with pay, in any year. 
They also receive six cents for each mile necessarily 
traveled in going to and returning from the place of 
sessions. No other pay can they receive. Their bills 
for expenses and per diem are audited and allowed by 
themselves, and paid out of the county treasury. 

In Wayne and Saginaw counties, pay for the first 
fifteen days of a regular session is allowed, at the same 
rate as above. 

QUESTIONS 

How is the territory of the state divided ? For what 
purposes ? Why is the division made ? Tell what you 
can of these purposes. 

What county do you live in ? What is the largest 
subdivision of territory in a state ? How large may it 
be ? How small ? When less than sixteen townships ? 
When may a city be erected into a county ? How many 
counties in Michigan ? What is an organized county ? 
How many are organized in Michigan ? Can you name 
them ? How many organized towns must there be in a 
county? What is a corporation? What are the cor- 
porate powers of counties? What is a county seat? 



COUNTIES. 183 

What are kept there ? Where does the board of super- 
visors meet \ How may a county seat be changed or 
removed ? 

Name the county officers ? What are the names of 
the county officers in your county? What is the name 
of your county seat ? Tell what you can about the 
sheriff. County clerk? Who is clerk of the circuit 
court in your county ? How much do you pay your 
county officers ? Tell about the county treasurer. Pro- 
secuting attorney ? Register of deeds ? Coroners ? 
County surveyor? Drain commissioner? Is there a 
drain commissioner in your county ? Notaries public ? 
Board of supervisors? Write a full abstract showing 
all you know about this board, whether stated in this 
book or not. Give generally the powers of the board. 
Who is supervisor of your ward or township ? 

To wmom are claims against the county presented ? 
What force has the action of the board in allowing or dis- 
allowing claims? Tell what you can about limitations 
upon the power of this board. Give a full description 
of the powers and authority of the board. What 
powers has the board of auditors of Wayne county ? 
What pay do supervisors receive ? How long and how 
many sessions may they hold ? Is the rule about pay 
uniform over the state ? 



184 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



CHAPTEE VII. 



TOWNSHIPS. 



Division, Origin. — Under act of Congress of May 
18, 1796, the public lands of the United States are sur- 
veyed first into townships, tracts six miles square. 



TOWNSHIP 



SECTION. 



6 


5 


4 


3 


2 


Section 
1 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


18 


17 


16 


15 


14 


13 


19 


20 


21 


22 


23 


24 


30 


29 


28 


27 


26 


25 


31 


32 


33 


34 


35 


36 



N.W. % 


N.E. U 


S.W M 


N.W.M 

of 
S. E )4 


N.E.M 

of 
S.E. X 


s.w y± 

of 
S E. % 


S.E. ]4 

of 
SE. K 



These are sub-divided in sections, quarter sections and 
lots containing forty acres each, being one-quarter of a 
quarter section. The term therefore denotes one of 
these territorial divisions, and, also, where a township 
is organized, the municipal body or community, organ- 
ized for certain local and political purposes. In Eng- 



TOWNSHIPS. 185 

land the term town has long been in use, signifying some 
territorial division, and sometimes including in its appli- 
cation large cities and villages. In the Eastern, and 
especially in the New England states, the corresponding 
political divisions are called towns. In most of these 
states the general colonial authority created these sub- 
divisions. In Khode Island, the towns preceded and 
created the general authority. The origin of towns and 
cities, that is, of separate, distinct communities exercis- 
ing local jurisdiction, is very remote. It may be said 
that the history of the world begins with the history of 
cities. The history of ancient Egypt is the history of 
cities. Municipal corporations were familiar to the 
Eoman law. Eome as a city held and exercised sover- 
eignty over almost the known world. The common 
division of civic communities established by the Roman 
government was mto prefectures, mimicipal towns and 
colonies. Prefectures did not enjoy the right of self- 
government. They were under the rule of prefects. 
Mimicipal towns, says Dr. Liddell, at length received 
the full Roman franchise, "and hence arose the com- 
mon conception of a mimicipal town; that is, a commu- 
nity of which the citizens were members of the whole 
nation, all possessing the same rights, and subject to the 
same burdens, but retaining the administration of law 
and government in all local matters which concern not 
the nation at large." 1 

After the overthrow of the Roman power, the na- 
tions of Europe were nations of cities. The conquer- 
ing of a nation or country was the taking of its cities. 
Powerful cities demanded of the crown, and received 
more or fewer local privileges. Free cities, after a time, 

1 Liddell's Rome, Chap. 27, Sec. 8. 
8* 



186 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

became common, in Spain at an earlier date than else- 
where. Some time between 1100 and 1125 A.D., Henry 
I. granted to London its original charter. This con 
ferred many valuable municipal privileges, 1 among them 
the right to choose certain officers, as sheriff, justice and 
others. Right to local self-government was quite gener- 
ally conferred on English towns and boroughs in the 
reign of King John. Bat they had no right of repre- 
sentation in the parliament or legislative body of the 
kingdom. In the reign of Edward I. is said to have 
originated the practice which, continued, made the 
House of Commons. 

Being distressed for money, and not desiring at the 
time to levy arbitrary taxes, he thought of getting a 
voluntary grant from the people. He issued writs to 
about one hundred and twenty cities and borough towns, 
desiring or commanding them to send to parliament, 
which then consisted of king and council, — the council 
being made up of the lords, spiritual and temporal, — 
along with two knights of the shire, two deputies from 
each borough in the county, with authority from the 
communities sending them to consent to whatever the 
king and his council should require of them. The 
experiment proved a success and the practice continued. 2 
Spite of arbitrary proceedings taken by different English 
monarchs to recall these privileges, the pow r er of the 
people grew. It beheaded Charles I. Charles II. 

1 See Norton's Commentaries on the History, Constitution, etc. , 
of the City of London. 

2 The student is referred to Hume's History of England ; Hallam's 
Middle Ages; Macaulay's History of England ; Adam Smith's Wealth 
of Nations; for history on this subject interesting and instructive, 
Guizot's History of Civilization in Europe contains a very full ac- 
count of the conditions of the cities and towns of Europe, from the 
fifth to the tenth century. 



TOWNSHIPS. 187 

attempted, with much success, to acquire absolute con- 
trol over the cities and boroughs. The judges were his 
creatures and assisted him. It is said there were eighty- 
one quo warranto proceedings brought against municipal 
corporations by Charles II. and James II. In 1683, 
writs were issued for abrogating the charter of Massa- 
chusetts, and in 1687 against Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut. It will be recollected that the people of 
Connecticut endeavored to preserve their charter, at this 
time, by concealing it in the Charter Oak. The revolu- 
tion of 1688 caused the restoration to the colonies of 
their charters. To-day neither crown, nor lords, nor 
both, are able long to withstand any popular movement. 
The House of Commons, representing the people, is the 
power in England. This brief review has been given to 
show the spirit of the institution of local self-governing 
communities. 

"Local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength 
of free nations. Municipal institutions are to liberty 
what primary schools are to science ; they bring it 
within the people's reach ; they teach men how to use 
and how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a system 
of free government, but without the spirit of municipal 
institutions it can not have the spirit of liberty." ' 

Our forefathers brought the spirit with them. They 
perpetuated the principle in the Federal Constitution, 
and the right is one common to all the states. 

It is in townships, cities and villages that the citizen 
in Michigan exercises the right, not only of local self- 
government, but of participating in county, state, and 
national governmental affairs. While the political 
importance and functions of all municipal corporations 

1 De Tocqueville's Democracy in America, Chap.V. 



188 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

are similar, the local machinery of government and the 
extent of powers are different. Cities and villages will, 
therefore, be separately treated. 

Organization. — As has been already stated, townships 
are mere political organizations. They are created 
wholly by statute. They have only such powers as the 
statute confers, and are subject to no obligations, except- 
ing statutory ones, — no common law obligations. In 
this, as will be seen, they differ from cities, cities being 
to a certain extent voluntary corporations, while town- 
ships are not. 

The law places the power to organize a new town- 
ship, divide or alter in bounds an existing one, in the 
boards of supervisors of counties, and the manner in 
which it can be done is especially pointed out. All pro- 
ceedings to the purpose must conform strictly to the 
law. The provisions can not be stated here. They are 
found in chapter 17 of Howell's Statutes. The proceed- 
ings to erect a township or divide one, or alter the 
bounds of one, may be reviewed in the courts. 1 But the 
proceedings, or the legal existence of a township can 
not be attacked, except in direct proceedings for that 
purpose, and a township organization, long acquiesced 
in and acted under will not be disturbed for irregularities 
and defects in its formation. 

Each organized township is a body corporate. AH 
suits and proceedings by or against a township shall be 
in the name thereof. Mandamus is the proper remedy 
to enforce payment of fixed and liquidated demands 
against a township, and not suit on the demand. 

Powers.— Townships have power to appoint all neces- 

1 See Scrafford v. Gladwin Supervisors, 41 Mich., 647; Atty. Gen. 
v. Page, 38 Mich., 286; Matthews v Otsego Supervisors, 48 Mich., 587. 



TOWNSHIPS. 189 

sary agents and attorneys ; to purchase and hold real 
estate for the public use of the inhabitants ; to convey 
and dispose of the same ; to make all contracts that may 
be necessary and convenient for the exercise of corporate 
powers ; and any orders for the disposal of corporate 
property. They also have power to make laws upon 
specified subjects within certain limits. A township may 
acquire and hold lands for a public park. 

Township Action. — A township acts through the 
whole body of the electors in the township, through 
the township board, and through its other elective offi- 
cers. 

Township Meeting. — The annual township meeting is 
held on the first Monday in April. At this meeting are 
elected the following officers: Supervisor, township 
clerk, treasurer, school inspector, commissioner of high- 
ways, such number of justices of the peace as are by law 
to be elected, and so many constables, not exceeding 
four, as may be ordered by the meeting. 

Each of these officers is to be chosen by ballot. If it 
is designed to have fewer than four constables, a formal 
resolution to that effect should be adopted, otherwise 
the four persons receiving the highest number of votes 
will be elected. 

At this election, the inspectors of election shall be the 
same as at the general election. The township clerk is 
clerk of the meeting and is required to keep faithful 
minutes of its proceedings, and a correct list of the per- 
sons voting at the election. At this election polls are to 
be opened as soon after nine o'clock as possible, and 
closed between three and six o'clock in the afternoon. 
An hour's notice of the closing must be given. The 
ballot must be a paper ticket with the names of persons 



190 CIVIL GOVERNMENT, 

for whom the elector intends to vote, written or printed, 
or partly written or printed, upon it. 

The inspectors deposit the ballots in a box. 

The votes must be publicly counted by the inspectors. 
The inspectors, when the canvass of votes is completed, 
are required to draw up a statement in writing, setting 
forth in words at full length, the whole number of votes 
for each office, the names of the persons voted for for 
each office, and the votes for each person. This state- 
ment must be certified to by the inspectors as correct. 
The inspectors also certify on such statement their deter- 
mination of the persons elected to the respective offices, 
as well by ballot as those elected without ballot. The 
statement and certificates are left with the township 
clerk, and are a part of the records of his office. 

The person having received the greatest number of 
votes for any office is elected. 

At this same meeting are elected, viva voce, or in any 
manner the meeting may direct, one overseer of high- 
ways for each road district, and as many pound masters 
as the meeting may direct. In the upper peninsula, 
these officers are elected the same as the other township 
officers, by ballot. 

Tf it is neglected to elect overseers, or if the office 
become vacant, or a new road district be formed, the 
commissioner of highways is authorized to make the 
necessary appointments. Excepting justices of the 
peace and school inspectors, township officers hold office 
for one year and until a successor is elected and 
qualifies. 

Voting of Taxes. — At the annual township meetings, 
or at any legal meeting, the electors of the town vote to 
raise the money necessary to defray the township expenses 



TOWNSHIPS. 191 

and charges. But they can not vote money for any pur- 
poses not authorized by law. Debts illegally contracted 
by township officers are not binding on the township, nor 
can money be raised to reimburse a township treasurer 
for funds stolen from him. The legislature can not 
authorize such raising of money. Neither can a town- 
ship meeting, by vote of electors, audit private claims 
against the township. 

A township charge is any fixed amount for which the 
township liability is determined and entitled to be paid. 
A sum for contingent expenses, it has been held, was 
properly raised, though the purposes for which the 
money was to be applied, was not otherwise stated. 

They may vote at any legal meeting to raise by tax a 
sum, not exceeding one per cent in any one year, upon 
the assessed valuation of the taxable real and personal 
property as appears by the last equalized and perfected 
tax-roll of the township, for building a town hall or other 
buildings required for township purposes. But no such 
vote shall be taken, nor appropriation made, unless 
notice of an intention to move for such vote and specify- 
ing the amount to be raised, has been given by at least 
twelve freeholders, posted up in five of the most public 
places in the township, at least ten days before the day 
of such meeting. A majority of the qualified electors 
voting at such meeting must authorize the tax. The 
subject of township taxes will be further referred to 
under the head of taxation. 

We may summarize township powers, both as to the 
general supervision and control over township property 
and affairs, and over the subject of raising moneys by 
tax, by saying that there must always be found some 
authority in the law for their action. No general pow- 



192 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

ers are conferred upon townships. The limitations now 
imposed upon them may be enlarged or restricted ; the 
principle will always be the same. And the authority 
conferred should be exercised in strict conformity with 
the power. Eecords should be keot, full and accurate, 
of all township proceedings. 

Some other powers are conferred, of a local legis- 
lative character, such as those for determining the time 
within which cattle shall be restrained from going at 
large in the highways, and suitable penalties not exceed- 
ing ten dollars for any single breach, may be imposed. 
Such matters as this are matters of pure discretion for 
consideration of the inhabitants of each township. 

It may also be said that, acting within the law, it is 
not competent for any persons or power, not even the 
legislature, to take the management of township affairs 
from the officers of the township and vest it in others of 
their own choosing. There are many provisions of law 
relating to special meetings in townships and to the 
places at which they shall be held. The resignations of 
officers and filling of vacancies in office are provided for. 
One principle may be stated in reference to all meetings 
either of the inhabitants or of the town board, and it 
applies to almost every case of meeting of boards of 
public officers to perform public business. Unless the 
law provides a time and place of meeting, notice must 
be given to those entitled to be present, and the notice 
must sufficiently apprise those on whom it is served of 
the purposes of the meetings. Let us very briefly 
notice some of the principal duties of township officers. 

Supervisor. — This office is the most important in the 
township. The supervisor is the representative of the 
township in the county legislature. He is the assessor 



TOWNSHIPS. 193 

of his township. He is required to preserve and keep 
all books, assessment rolls and papers pertaining to his 
% office in some safe and suitable place. He prosecutes in 
the name of the people, or otherwise as may be neces- 
sary, to recover for penalties and forfeitures incurred in 
his township, and for which no other officer is specially 
authorized to prosecute. He is the agent of his town- 
ship for the transaction of all legal business. Process 
against the township for beginning suits is served on 
him, and he defends and sues for the township. His 
duties are largely connected with the taxing power. 

Township Cleric. — We have already learned that the 
township clerk is the record keeper of the township. He 
is required to record the doings of township meetings and 
of the meetings of the township board, to file and preserve 
certificates of oaths and all such papers as are required to 
be deposited with him. He has the custody of all the 
township records. Chattel mortgages are filed in his 
office. He keeps an account with the township treas- 
urer, charging him with all funds coming into his hands, 
and crediting him with all moneys paid out on the order 
of the proper authorities. He also is required to open 
and keep a separate account with each of the several 
funds belonging to his township, crediting them with 
such moneys as belong to them, and charging them with 
the warrants drawn on the township treasurer against 
them. 

Township Treasurer. — Takes charge of all moneys 
belonging to the township, and accounts for the same, 
paying it out only on orders from proper authorities. 
He is debtor to the township for all such moneys, and if 
he receives anything in the place of money, or loses 
money, he must still account in money to the township. 
N 9 



194 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

He must pay orders only to proper persons, and he can 
not correct an order as to amount, but must pay it at its 
face if at all. 

He may be compelled by mandamus to pay moneys 
in his hands upon proper orders. On the Tuesday next 
preceding the annual township meeting, he is required 
to account to the township board for all moneys received 
and disbursed by him. The treasurer is required to 
give a bond to the township, to be approved by the 
supervisor, for the faithful performance of his duties. 
This bond he must execute himself with his sureties. 
The bond must run to the township. 

Township Board. — The supervisor, the two justices 
of the peace whose term of office will soonest expire, 
and the township clerk, constitute the township board, 
and any three of them are a quorum for the pur- 
pose of transacting business. When for any cause 
one of these can not act, one of the other justices, 
on being notified by some member of the board, 
may act with the board with the same powers as 
the other members. This board meets annually on the 
Tuesday next preceding the annual township meeting, 
for the purpose of auditing and settling all claims 
against the township. They state on each account, the 
amount allowed by them, and it is paid by the treasurer 
on the order of the board, signed by the clerk and 
countersigned by the chairman of the board (supervisor). 
The board at this meeting examine and audit the ac- 
counts of all township officers having authority to receive 
or disburse public moneys, and they determine the 
amount of the bond to be given by the next township 
clerk. 

This board is also authorized, whenever the township 



TOWNSHIPS. 195 

at its annual meeting shall refuse or neglect to vote such 
sum or sums as may be necessary to defray the ordinary 
township expenses, to vote such necessary sums, not 
exceeding the limit provided by law, at any regular 
meeting. This amount is in addition to any amount 
voted at the township meeting. But they are not 
authorized to vote sums for other than township 
expenses. Money to pay a judgment against the town 
may be included, and money to pay amounts due to 
another township where townships have been divided. 

The township board meets as often during the year as 
may be necessary to transact public business. 

Co tistables.— The office of constable is very ancient. 
Ever since there have been courts, it has been necessary 
to have proper persons to serve writs and other process, 
and act as ministerial officers to the court when in 
session. A constable performs the same duties for jus- 
tices* courts that the sheriff does for the circuit courts. 
He can serve a writ, process, or order directed to him in 
any township in his county. Constables must be elected. 
The legislature can not vest the powers of constables in 
persons not so chosen. He may, and it is his duty to arrest, 
without a warrant, a known felon, and all persons com- 
mitting breaches of the peace in his presence. Process 
fair on its face protects him in the lawful execution of it. 
If he serves illegal process, or process in his hands is ille- 
gally executed, he is liable in damages for injury result- 
ing. He is required to give a bond, to be approved by 
the supervisor or clerk of his township, for the faithful 
performance of his duties, and agreeing himself and 
sureties to pa}' all such sums of money as any person 
may become entitled to on account of any default or 
neglect in the service or return of any process delivered 



196 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

to him for service or collection. All actions on this 
bond must be prosecuted within two years after the expi- 
ration of the year for which he is elected. 

Commissioner of Highways. — The duties of highway 
commissioner relate to the opening, discontinuing and 
altering of the highways in his township, and the gen- 
eral care and superintendence of them and of the over- 
seers of highways. 

All ways are either public or private. A highway is 
a public passage for all. On it all the people of the 
state have an equal and common right to travel. It is 
open to all suitable methods of travel, unless in its 
dedication the use of particular methods is prescribed. 
One means of traffic or travel has no rights superior to 
others. The commissioner can not discontinue state 
roads, but only those laid out by commissioners. 

The proceedings to open and alter highways, as they 
usually affect, more or less, interests in private property, 
must be in strict conformity with law. The constitu- 
tional provisions that no person shall be deprived of 
life, liberty or property without due process of law, and 
that private property shall not be taken for public use 
without just compensation, apply to every case of the 
taking of private property for a highway. Therefore all 
the requirements of law must be strictly followed. The 
office is an important one. Highways in this state 
are opened, improved and maintained by the labor of 
the inhabitants residing in, and by assessments on 
property in, each township. The commissioner divides 
his township into as many road districts as he thinks 
may be convenient, and may alter, vacate, divide or 
consolidate districts; but if a township has been organ- 
ized more than fifteen years, he can vacate, alter, divide 



TOWNSHIPS. 197 

and consolidate these districts only by sanction of the 
township board. 

By vote of electors at the annual township meeting, 
it may be determined to assess a money tax for high- 
ways. The vote is by ballot, and if it is so decided, the 
meeting, immediately after electing overseers, vote the 
amount of the tax they desire assessed, not exceeding 
one-half of one per cent on the assessed valuation of the 
township. If no sum is voted, the township board, 
within the same limits, fixes the amount. This is spread 
like other taxes on the assessment roll. The labor on 
highways is then performed and paid for on order of the 
commissioner, from the fund so collected. If the town- 
ship do not vote to raise the highway fund in this 
manner, then the labor is assessed by the commissioner, 
and either worked out b}' the inhabitants of each road 
district under the direction and oversight of the over- 
seer of highways, or commuted by paying to the over- 
seer money. So the commissioner becomes an agent in 
the levying of local taxes. 

Overseers of Highways. — Are the directors in the 
road districts of the highway labor performed by the 
inhabitants ; look after the condition of the roads and 
bridges ; provide necessary implements for performing 
the highway labor ; warn out the inhabitants of the dis- 
trict to perforin the highway labor and direct what shall 
be furnished and what particular labor performed by 
each. 

Receive commutations for highway assessments, and 
give receipts therefor, paying to the town treasurer 
moneys remaining in their hands, after necessary expen- 
ditures, and rendering an account of the same. Report 
property and persons delinquent for highway labor 



198 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

to the commissioner, that the tax may be collected from 
the property assessed. 

Overseers of highways act as fence viewers. 

School Inspector. — See school district. 

Drain Commissioner. — A township drain commis- 
sioner is elected at the annual township meeting. His 
duties are to lay out and construct drains in the town- 
ship. Like the duties of the commissioner of highways 
in laying out roads, his duties very often relate to the 
taking of private property for public use. Connected 
with his duties, also, is the subject of taxation. It can 
only be repeated, that in acting upon a petition for the 
establishment of a drain he must first see that it is a 
proper petition, and then in every step taken in estab- 
lishing and opening a drain see that he follows, strictly, 
the statute. It is an important office. His compensa- 
tion is fixed by the township board, at some amount not 
to exceed three dollars a day, for the time employed. 

All township officers, excepting school inspectors, 
drain commissioners, and justices of the peace, hold 
office for one year. School inspectors and drain com- 
missioners are elected for two years, and justices of the 
peace for four years. 

No person except an elector is eligible to any office 
except the office of school inspector. A woman of or 
above the age of twenty-one years, and who has resided 
in the state three months and in the township ten days 
next preceding the election, may be elected school 
inspector. 

QUESTIONS. 

Tell about the division and origin of townships. Their 
subdivisions ? Write an abstract of this subdivision and 
explain the principle of local self-government. 



TOWNSHIPS. 199 

Tell about the organization of townships. Where is 
the power to divide, organize, etc., a township? May 
proceedings to organize or divide a township be re- 
viewed in the courts ? What is meant by a body corpo- 
rate ? Can a township sue and be sued ? In what name ? 
What powers have townships ? How does a township 
act ? Tell about the township meeting. What officers 
are elected ? How are they chosen ? How many con- 
stables are elected ? Tell about this. What sort of 
ballot must be used? How are the votes counted and 
by whom? How is the result stated? How long do 
township officers hold office ? Any exceptions ? What 
can you tell about the voting of township taxes ? For 
what purposes and in what manner can the township 
meeting vote taxes ? What is a township charge ? 
What can you say, generally, of township powers? 
What other legislative powers are conferred ? Can the 
management of township affairs be taken from the town- 
ship and its officers? Why not? Tell all you can 
about the supervisor and his duties. State fully about 
the township clerk and his duties. What are the duties 
of township treasurer? What officers compose the 
township board ? Tell about its meetings and duties ? 
How are public moneys disbursed? Where do these 
moneys come from ? Can the township board vote a 
tax ? To what amount ? Write an abstract of what is 
said about constables. State the duties of highway 
commissioner. What powers or right is exercised in 
taking private property for the purpose of opening a 
highway? How are common highways improved and 
kept in repair ? Is there more than one way ? May 
the whole highway tax be raised by money ? When ? 
How, then, is the highway labor performed ? 



200 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

School districts, like counties and towns, are bodies 
corporate. They are formed by the division of town- 
ships and are numbered. The division is made by the 
township board of school inspectors. Each city incor- 
porated under general laws is a school district. In 
townships the board of school inspectors have power to 
alter the boundaries of school districts under certain 
restrictions. No school district can contain more than 
nine sections of land, and these must be contiguous, and 
in as compact form as possible. 

When organized they are municipal corporations, and 
possess all the powers of a corporation for public pur- 
poses. Under the corporate name they are capable of 
suing and being sued, or acquiring and holding property 
and contracting in regard to it, and the other necessary 
corporate objects. They can take and hold money 
bequests in trust for the maintenance of a library for the 
use and benefit of all persons in the district. Like other 
corporations they have officers, and act through them 
or by the inhabitants of the district as may be provided 

by law. 

Organization. 

Whenever the board of school inspectors decide to 
form a school district, the clerk of the board is required 
to notify a taxable inhabitant of the district of such 



SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 201 

formation, describing the boundaries and specifying the 
time and place of the first meeting. These notices also 
direct the inhabitant to notify every qualified voter of 
the district, personally, or by leaving a written notice at 
his place of residence of the time and place of such meet- 
ing, at least five days before the time appointed for the 
meeting. After proper service, the inhabitant to whom 
this notice is given endorses upon the notice a return, 
showing how the notices were given, and at what dates. 
This return he makes to the chairman of the meeting, 
who delivers it to the director chosen by the meeting, 
and it is recorded as a part of the records of the district. 
If the inhabitants fail to organize, the same proceedings 
are again had. 

At the first meeting there is to be elected by ballot a 
moderator for three years, a director for two years, and 
an assessor for one year. At the expiration of these 
various terms of office their successors are elected for a 
term of three years each. 

This leaves an officer to be elected annually at the 
annual district election. A district is organized when 
any two of the officers elected at the first meeting shall 
have filed acceptances with the director, and the same 
shall have been recorded in the minutes of the first 
meeting 

A district is presumed to have been legally organized 
when it has exercised the franchises and privileges of a 
district for two years. After the exercise of these privi- 
leges for a considerable length of time no inquiry will 
be permitted into the organization. At no time can its 
existence be questioned, except in direct proceedings for 
that purpose. A school district may, when necessary or 
convenient, be formed from territory partly in one and 



902 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

partly in an adjoining township. In forming such a 
district the boards of inspectors, or a majority of them 
from each township, form the district, which is design 
nated a fractional district, and they direct which town- 
ship clerk shall give the proper notice of such formation. 
The annual report of the director of such district is 
required to be made to the inspectors of the township 
in which the school house is situated. The district is 
numbered. 

The law provides in what manner districts shall be 
divided ; that certain districts may be organized as 
graded school districts, in which boundaries shall not be 
changed except by consent of a majority of the trustees 
thereof, entered on the records of the district and filed 
with the clerk of the board of school inspectors of the 
township or city to which reports of the district are 

made. 

Meetings. 

The annual meeting of each school district is held on 
the first Monday in September in each year. The school 
year begins that day. Graded or high school districts, 
or districts organized by special act of the legislature 
may determine to hold the annual meeting on the second 
Monday in July. Special meetings may be called by the 
district board, or any of them, and it is their duty to 
call them on application of five legal voters of the 
district. 

Notices of annual and of special meetings must be 
posted up in three of the most public places in the dis- 
trict, one being posted on the outer door of the district 
school house, six days previous to the date of meeting, 
and specifying the day, hour and place of such meeting. 
If the notice is of a meeting to establish or change the 



SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 203 

site of a school house it must be a notice of ten days, 
and if it is a meeting called upon request, it must be 
called in not less than six nor more than twelve days 
from the time of the request. 

At such a meeting all persons twenty-one years old 
and who have property liable to assessment for school 
taxes in the district, and who have lived in the district, 
or in territory belonging to the district at the time of 
the meeting, three months preceding the meeting, are 
qualified to vote on any subject before the meeting. And 
all parents or legal guardians of any children included 
in the school census of the district, who have the age 
and residence qualification just given, are entitled to 
vote on any question not directly involving the raising 
of money by tax. 

At any meeting lawfully held the moderator presides, 
or a chairman is elected in his absence, and the director is 
secretary, or some one is elected in his place to keep the 
minutes of the meeting. The meeting has besides this 
the power to adjourn to some other time ; to elect dis- 
trict officers; to designate a site or sites for school 
house or houses, or change them; to direct the purchas- 
ing or leasing of a site or sites lawfully determined upon, 
or the purchasing, hiring or building of a school house 
or school houses, or the enlarging of a site or sites pre- 
viously established; to vote such tax as the meeting 
deems sufficient for the purposes named, but the 
amounts to be raised in any district for the purchasing 
or building a school house or houses, in the same year 
that any bonded indebtedness is incurred, are limited. 

In districts containing fewer than ten children between 
the ages of five and twenty years, the limit is two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars; in districts having between ten 



204 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

and thirty children, five hundred dollars; in districts 
having between thirty and fifty children of this age, one 
thousand dollars. Land, no portion of which lies within 
two and one-half miles of a school site, can not be taxed 
to build a school house. 

The meeting also has power to impose a necessary 
tax to keep school buildings in repair, to provide neces- 
sary apparatus for the schools, and to pay district liabili- 
ties and debts lawfully incurred, and the services of 
district officers. For these purposes no tax can exceed 
one-half what the district might raise for building a 
school house. 

The meeting may also authorize and direct the sale of 
any school house, site, building or other property of the 
district no longer needed for the use of the district; 
make any and all necessary directions concerning the 
prosecution or defense of any suit to which the district 
may be a party, or in which it may be interested; if 
building is decided upon, to appoint a building com- 
mittee, with such powers as they may vote; at the first 
and annual meetings only to determine the length of 
time schools shall be taught in the district; to appro- 
priate any surplus moneys arising from the one-mill tax, 
after having maintained a school in the district at least 
eight months in the school year, for building or repair- 
ing or enlarging school houses or sites, or for purchasing 
globes, maps, library, or other school apparatus, or for 
any incidental expenses of the school. 

Moderator. 

Presides, when present, at all the meetings of the dis- 
trict board; countersigns all orders legally drawn by the 
director upon the assessor, for moneys to be disbursed 



SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 205 

by the district, and all Avar rants of the director upon the 
township treasurer for moneys raised for district pur- 
poses, or apportioned to the district by the township 
clerk; causes an action to be prosecuted on the asses- 
sor's bond, iu case of any breach of any condition 

thereof. 

Director. 

Is the clerk of the district, and is required to keep a 
record of all the proceedings of district and board meet- 
ings, in a proper record book; he is required to give 
notice of the annual district meeting; to draw and sign 
all warrants upon the township treasurer for moneys 
belonging to the district, and orders upon the assessor 
for moneys to be disbursed by the district. 

Each order must specify the fund upon which it is 
drawn, and the purpose of its expenditure. When 
directed by the district board, he draws and signs all 
contracts with teachers, and presents them to the other 
members of the board for signature. 

He provides the necessary appendages for the school 
house, and keeps it in repair during the time school is 
taught therein; but can not purchase charts or other 
apparatus to be used in the school room without a vote 
of the district authorizing such purchase. He must 
keep an account of all expenses incurred by him as 
director, and his account is audited by the other mem- 
bers of the district board. He is also required to pre- 
sent to the annual meeting an estimate of district ex- 
penses to be provided for during the coining year. 
Unless some other person is appointed by the district 
board, it is the duty of the director to take the school 
census. This is done in the ten days preceding the first 
Monday in September in each year. When the census 



206 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

is completed it is verified by the person taking it. The 
object of this census, we know, is to show what propor- 
tion of the public school moneys is to be given the school 
district. Previous to the second Monday in September 
the director is required to deliver to the township clerk, 
a report to the board of school inspectors of the town- 
ship, which shows, the census aforesaid, the number 
under five and over twenty years, attending school, the 
number of non-resident pupils of the district, the whole 
number that have attended school, the length of time 
the school has been taught, names of teachers and 
wages paid, during the year. 

Also showing the average length of time scholars, 
between five and twenty years of age, have attended 
school, the amount of money received from the township 
treasurer, and the amount raised by the district, and for 
what purposes. 

To this is added, the kinds of books used in 
the schools, and such other facts and statistics regarding 
the subject of education and the schools as the superin- 
tendent of public instruction may direct. 

Assessor. 

The assessor is the treasurer of the district. He is 
required to file a bond satisfactory to the director and 
moderator. He pays out moneys on the proper orders 
of the director from the fund on which the order is 
drawn. He keeps an account of all money transactions 
for the district, making a report and statement at the 
close of each school year. He appears for the district in 
all suits by or against it, unless some other person has 
been designated by the district board. If he is himself 
interested in a suit or proceeding adversely to the dis- 



SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 207 

trict, the moderator, in the absence of any other appoint- 
ment, appears for the district. 

Within the statutory limitations, and by a two-thirds 
vote of electors at the meeting, a school district may 
borrow money to pay for school-house sites, and erect 
and furnish school buildings. Bonds are issued by the 
district board in sums of not less than fifty dollars, 
drawing not to exceed eight per cent interest, and pay- 
able at such time or times as the district board may 
direct. 

The director, assessor, and moderator constitute the 
district board. Offices are accepted by those elected 
to them, by filing written acceptances with the director. 

The officers elected in the school district have no 
common law powers or rights ; they are strictly confined 
to such as are given by the statute. 

Suits are began against school districts by summons, 
left with the assessor at least eight days before the 
return day. 

Provisions of law are made for the selecting and con- 
demning of school-house sites ; for graded schools in 
districts having a certain number of school children ; for 
libraries ; for the examination of teachers and the 
general supervision of schools. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is a school district ? How formed ? By whom 
formed ? How designated ? By whom altered 1 The 
size ? Are they corporations ? What are their powers ? 
Name them fully ? Tell how a school district is organ- 
ized. What are the offices in a school district ? How 
are they elected I When is a district organized ? Is 
there any legal presumption in favor of school district 



208 CIVIL GOVERNMENT, 

organization ? When ? What is a fractional school dis- 
trict ? How formed ? How designated ? To what 
township are reports made ? What can you tell about 
school district meetings? What is a graded school? 
When may they be instituted ? Give a full abstract of 
what is said about meetings. Tell how money for dis- 
trict purposes is raised, how voted, and how much can 
be voted. Name the district officers and the duties of 
each. Tell how district money is disbursed. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CITIES AND VILLAGES. 

It is readily understood that when portions of terri- 
tory become thickly populated the ordinary powers of 
township government do not adequately meet public 
wants. General laws operate in cities and villages as 
elsewhere, but there are many matters connected with 
the efficient preservation of the life, liberty, and prop- 
erty of the citizens of a thickly inhabited community 
which require special laws not applicable elsewhere. 
Then, under the principle of local self-government, 
greater local powers or powers over a greater variety of 
subjects must be given the people of such communities. 
Fire departments, sewers, gas, paving, water supply, 
police, regulation of selling and buying, sidewalks, 
hotels, public meetings and public buildings, ferries, 
vehicles used to transport people and property for hire, 
street railways, and a multitude of similar subjects 



CITIES AND VILLAGES. 209 

become important in thickly populated places, in addi- 
tion to which there is a natural increase of vagrancy, 
drunkenness, vice, misdemeanors, and crimes of all 
sorts. To meet the increased expense of necessary local 
government, taxation must be increased. The reason 
for cutting such portions of territory from the rest of 
the township and erecting them into municipal corpora- 
tions, rests, therefore, both in necessity and convenience. 
But the principles governing the use of legislative, 
executive, and judicial powers in cities and villages is 
the same as in townships. Such powers as are expressly 
or by necessary implication given these local communi- 
ties, can be exercised by them. No others. The rights 
conferred are not vested rights, subject to such constitu- 
tional prohibitions as may exist ; the legislature has 
complete control over these municipalities as state agen- 
cies, and may enlarge or restrict their powers, enlarge 
or limit territorial boundaries, and may even abolish the 
corporation entirely at its pleasure. The right to exist 
as a municipal corporation, to exercise the powers and 
franchises of one, can never, as against the state, grow 
or ripen into such rights as can not be taken away. 
Upon the other hand, municipal business can not be 
done by the legislature nor by officers appointed by the 
legislature. We therefore find these municipalities 
created by general or special act of the legislature, 
given legislative, executive, and judicial powers, with 
the right to elect officers, levy taxes, and, generally, to 
take care of the interests of the community. 

The charter or general act under which the corpora- 
tion is formed, is the constitution of the municipality. 
In it must be found authority for the exercise of all 
powers. 

O 9* 



210 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The legislative authority of cities and villages is 
usually reposed in a common council or body of persons 
usually known as such. The local legislative acts are 
called ordinances. Penalties for violation of ordinances 
may be fixed. Justices in cities, or some judicial officer 
or court superior to justices of the peace, are given 
authority to try and determine charges of violation of 
city ordinances, 

A Mayor in a city and President in a village are the 
names of officers exercising the executive authority. 
Cities are divided into wards, and the inhabitants of 
each ward are usually allowed to, in some measure, take 
care of ward interests. Each ward is represented in the 
city government. City and village taxes are apportioned, 
as a rule, to the entire city or village. The county and 
state taxes are apportioned among the wards as among 
townships. 

Cities have such representation upon the board of 
supervisors as may be given by the legislative authority. 

Villages have no representation as villages or separ- 
ate corporations in the board of supervisors. 

The representation of cities upon this board is usually 
by wards, each ward being treated as a township, and 
entitled to the same representation. Sometimes cities 
have a greater representation for certain purposes than 
townships, as when, in addition to the representation 
from each ward, the city assessor or other officer is 
allowed a seat. 

At general elections the inhabitants of villages vote 
with the township electors in the township in which they 
live. The usual officers of cities and villages are a 
mayor or president as executive officer ; a clerk or 
recorder, to keep the city records and accounts ; a treas- 



ELECTIONS. 211 

urer, to keep and disburse the moneys of the corpora- 
tion, and taxes received for other purposes — state and 
county. There is in a city some assessing officer to 
list property for taxation and spread necessary taxes. 
There may be a marshal, street commissioner, and 
officers of the fire department in either, and the necessary 
police forces. 

QUESTIONS. 

Write an abstract of this chapter. 

What is a city ? A village ? Why are they created ? 
What corporate powers have they ? From what source 
do they get their powers ? What legislative powers 
have they ? Where is the legislative power reposed ? 
What are the acts of the legislative authority called? 
What authority has the legislature over these munici- 
palities \ Name the usual city and village officers. 



CHAPTER X. 

ELECTIONS. 

General Subject. 

The general subject of elections seems more properly 
to fall under the head of civil government of the state 
than of the United States. It is in the state that the 
citizen exercises the right to vote. Though the right is 
exercised in the local subdivisions of the state, treatment 
of the subject is better undertaken separately than in 
connection with the descriptions of municipalities. 

Again, excepting as restrained and governed by a 



212 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

general naturalization law, the power to pass which was 
delegated to Congress, and by such provisions as a 
majority of the states have put into the Constitution of 
the United States, and the acts of Congress upon the 
subject, the states determine who shall participate in 
elections. There, however, seems to be no doubt but 
that the Congress of the United States has the power, if 
it chooses to exercise it, to pass such laws as seem to 
it proper regarding the exercise of the right of suffrage 
in all elections for officers of the United States. 

We have learned, in a general way, what political 
liberty is, and that it is said to exist in the United States. 
In theory the people of the states participate actively 
and directly in the affairs of government, and they do 
this by the exercise of the elective franchise. It is 
not, of course, true, that every person in the state has 
the right to vote. The elective franchise, or right to 
participate in affairs of government, is a right conferred 
by the sovereign power. It is a right, held in trust by 
those to whom it is given, to be exercised for the society 
— the public good. It is a right regarded and treated in 
law as a valuable one. Its exercise by one not entitled 
to exercise it, is a wrong to the public, to the state. To 
deprive one having the right, the privilege of exercising 
it properly, is a wrong, both public and private, and 
money damages may be recovered against one who 
knowingly and wilfully hinders, obstructs, or prevents 
the exercise of the right. This in addition to the penal- 
ties which the public may enforce for the same act. 

The sovereign authority may confer this right upon 
whomsoever it pleases. It may, by constitutional 
methods, take the right or recall the right where it 
pleases, from any class exercising or possessing it. 



ELECTIONS, 213 

It is essential that the right be exercised only by the 
persons or class of persons possessing it. It is also 
essential that in its exercise the lawful methods be 
observed. 

Let us see, first, to whom the right belongs, and, 
second, something about the times, places, manner and 
purposes of exercising it. 

Who may Vote. 

Upon what persons, then, has the sovereign authority 
conferred this right ? 

Though each state establishes a rule for itself, there 
is yet a general similarity or uniformity in these rules. 
For example, citizenship, which would exclude aliens, 
is required in all the states. Women and minors are 
excluded in all the state? from participating in general 
elections. Idiots and lunatics are, in some states, ex- 
pressly excluded by constitutional provisions. It is 
generally understood that they can not exercise the right 
of suffrage, though not expressly excluded. Those per- 
sons in confinement for crimes and misdemeanors can not 
vote. In some states an alien, having declared his inten- 
tion of becoming a citizen, may, after a certain resi- 
dence, participate in elections. Paupers are excluded in 
many states, persons under guardianship in some, per- 
sons excused at their own request from paying taxes in 
New Hampshire. Persons who can not read in Con- 
necticut, and persons who can not both read and write 
in Massachusetts. In some elections, persons who lack 
a specified property qualification are excluded, those who 
do not pay taxes, and those who have been convicted of 
infamous crimes. 

Limitations Upon the State Power. 

Article XIV of Amendments to the Constitution of 



214 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

the United States provides that all persons born or 
naturalized in the United States, and subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States 
and of the states wherein they reside. 

No state shall make or enforce any law which shall 
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the 
United States. And in Article XV of Amendments, it is 
provided that the rights of citizens of the United States 
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United 
States, or by any state on account of race, color, or 
previous condition of servitude. 

This first provision would seem to have this force. 

It is the general requirement in all states, that persons 

exercising the right of suffrage shall be citizens of the 

United States and of the state. Citizenship may be 

acquired in any state. Once acquired, no other state can 

question it. The second provision limits the right in the 

states to fix for themselves what classes of persons shall 

vote. 

Provisions in Michigan Constitution* 

Article VII of the Constitution of Michigan contains 
the restrictions upon legislative power. In brief, these 
provisions are: That every male citizen, twenty- one years 
old, who has resided in the state for three months, and 
in the township or ward ten days, next preceding an 
election, and every male inhabitant twenty one years old, 
who has lived in the state two years and six months, and 
who has declared his intention to become a citizen six 
months preceding any election, may vote. 

In addition, every male inhabitant residing in the 
state on the 24th day of June, 1835, and every male 
inhabitant who resided in the state January 1, 1850, and 
who declares or has declared his intention to become a 



ELECTIONS. 215 

citizen six months previous to an election, are voters. 
No soldier, marine or seaman in the army or navy of the 
United States can gain a residence in the state by being 
stationed in any military or naval place within it. 

Any person engaged in a duel, either as principal or 
as accessory before the fact, can not vote. 

How an Alien may Become a Citizen. 

It is a principle in the law of nations that the state 
has jurisdiction over its citizens, no matter where they 
may be, and that a citizen is under the protection of his 
own government everywhere and anywhere. 

A citizen of one country or state can not well owe 
allegiance to more than one sovereignty at a time. 

This power of the state over the citizen extends to 
preventing his removal from the territory of the state, 
and so long as the protection of some other power has 
not been gained, the government may, whenever it can 
get jurisdiction of the person of its citizens, punish 
them for having disobeyed the laws in removing beyond 
the realm or for any other disobedience. 

It is not an uncommon thing for the state to provide 
a method by which people coming within its jurisdiction 
may, if desired, become citizens with most of the privi- 
leges of those born citizens. In the United States the 
provisions of law enacted upon this subject are given in 
title XXX of the Revised Statutes. Some of the pro- 
visions of the statute are not important to us now, they 
having been made for the time when, following the war 
of the Revolution, it was desired to make citizens with- 
out imposing restrictions. Those provisions now im- 
portant are, in brief, that the alien desiring to become a 
citizen may do so by declaring his intention to do so on 



216 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

oath, before the clerk of a circuit or district court of the 
United States, or a district or a supreme court of the 
territories, or a court of record of any state having 
common law jurisdiction and a clerk and seal. 

This declaration must 'be made two years, at least, 
prior to his admission. In this declaration he must 
renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign 
prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and particularly, 
by name, to the prince, potentate, state or sovereignty 
of which he may be, at the time, a citizen or subject. 
At the time of his application to be admitted, he must 
declare on oath, before some one of the clerks of courts 
above specified, that he will support the Constitution of 
the United States, and that he absolutely renounces all 
allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, etc., and 
particularly to the prince, potentate, etc., of which he 
was before a subject or citizen, a record of which is to be 
made by the clerk of the court. 

To the court admitting the alien it must be made to 
satisfactorily appear, that the alien has resided in the 
United States five years at least, and in the state or ter- 
ritory where the court is held, one year, at least; and 
that during that time he has behaved as a man of good 
moral character, attached to the principles of the Con- 
stitution, and well disposed to the good order and happi- 
ness of the United States. But the oath of the alien 
will not be admitted to prove his residence. That must 
be proved by other evidence. If the alien has borne 
any hereditary title, or been of any of the orders of 
nobility in the kingdom or state from which he came, he 
must expressly renounce any such title or order, and 
that also is to be recorded by the clerk of the court. 



ELECTIONS. 217 

An alien who has lived in the United States for three 
years next preceding his arriving at the age of twenty- 
one years, may, after attaining his majority, and after 
residing in the United States for five years, be admitted a 
citizen, without having made the declaration of inten- 
tions heretofore spoken of. He must, however, make 
the same declaration at the time of his admission, and 
declare, on oath, and prove to the satisfaction of the 
court, that for two years next preceding his application 
it has been his bona fide intention to become a citizen of 
the United States. When an alien, having made the 
declaration of intention required by law, dies before he 
is actually naturalized, the widow and children of the 
alien are considered as citizens upon taking the oaths 
prescribed by law. No alien, a native citizen or subject 
of any county with which the United States is at war at 
the time of making application for citizenship, can be 
admitted. 

The children of persons naturalized being under the 
age of twenty-one years at the time the parents were 
naturalized, and dwelling within the United States are 
citizens, and the children of persons who are citizens 
of the United States, though born out of the limit of 
the United States, are considered citizens of the United 
States. 

An alien, twenty-one years of age and upwards, who 
enlists or has enlisted in either the regular or volunteer 
armies of the United States, and is honorably discharged, 
may be admitted to citizenship on petition, without pre- 
vious declaration of intention, and without proving more 
than one year's residence within the United States previ- 
ous to the making this application. 
10 



218 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Citizenship Forfeited. 

Congress has forfeited the right to citizenship of all 
persons who deserted the army or navy of the United 
States and did not return to service or report themselves 
to a provost-marshal within sixty days after the Presi- 
dent's proclamation dated March 11, 1865 ; but there is 
excepted from the operation of this law, so far as loss 
of citizenship and right to hold office is concerned, the 
soldiers and sailors who served until the 19th of April, 
1865, and who then, without leave, quit their commands 
or refused to serve after that date. Such persons are 
not held to be deserters. 

Provisions Governing the Exercise of the Elective 
Franchise. 

Title XXVI of the revised statutes of the United 
States, is entitled of "the elective franchise." It is 
practically an act to preserve the purity of elections and 
to secure to every person having the right, the privilege 
of voting. It was passed to give effect to the provisions 
of the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States. Michigan with other states has, by 
legislation, provided for the exercise of the right of suf- 
frage. The provisions of the law can not, of course, be 
given here. 

It is evident that a right so great should be only 
exercised by those to whom it belongs, and that to them 
it should be made sure and effective. 

A Secret I> allot. — We find, therefore, that in nearly 
every election provision is made for voting by ballot. 
Without speaking of the advantages of a paper ballot, 
printed or written, so far as concerns the depositing of 
the same, the ascertainment of the result and safety to 



ELECTIONS. 219 

the voter, there is one privilege connected with voting 
which the law gives to all. It is the right to a secret 
ballot. While there seems to be no method of prevent- 
ing persons voting an open ticket, or showing the ticket 
before voting to whomsoever they choose, the law 
accords the right to every man to vote a folded secret 
ticket, no one ever knowing for whom the elector ex- 
pressed a choice. 

Residence and Registration. 

Back of or preceding the casting of the ballot are 
numerous provisions calculated to ensure the right to 
those entitled to it, and to none others. The most 
important of these relate to the domicile or residence of 
the citizen, and to the requirements of the registration 
laws. Briefly, a person is required, in order to vote at 
any election, from school district elections to the election 
of electors for the chief magistrate of the United States, 
to have acquired a residence in the district, ward, or 
township, where the right is to be exercised. 

And that it may be known upon the day of election 
what persons are entitled to vote, it is required that 
electors shall before that time appear before a board 
of officers, called the board of registration, and there 
register their names and places of residence. Before 
allowing any one to register, this board is required to be 
satisfied that the party will have, on election day, all the 
qualifications of an elector. Age, nativity, naturaliza- 
tion, residence in the voting district, may all be inquired 
into, and the board should permit none to register except 
upon satisfactory showing of the right. 

This is especially true in our state, where a person 
having registered is entitled upon election day to vote, 



220 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

if challenged, upon taking the oath necessary to cover 
the ground upon which challenge is made. The board 
on election day have no discretion, provided the chal- 
lenged party will take the prescribed oath. They are, 
however, required to number the ballot cast, upon its 
back, with the number of the elector on the poll-list ; to 
paste over the number so written on a ballot a piece 
of paper, making the number invisible. 

But the ballot is received and is counted. If, after- 
wards, the party challenged is accused of illegal voting, 
or if the election of any candidate declared by the board 
of canvassers to be elected, should be disputed in proper 
legal proceedings, the candidate for whom the elector 
voted may be known by the ballot cast and numbered, 
and, his vote being found, may be examined and a cor- 
rect result arrived at. 

Under certain circumstances, and upon a certain 
showing, an elector, sick, absent from home, or from the 
ward or township in which he votes, on the day of regis- 
tration, may be allowed upon election day to register 
and vote. 

To protect the people in the exercise of this right of 
election, penalties are imposed for illegal voting ; for 
bribing a person to vote for any candidate ; for refusing, 
willfully, to receive a proper vote, and for receiving, 
knowingly, an improper vote. These are in the interests 
of the public, and may be enforced by public prose- 
cution. 

To deprive a person knowingly of the right to vote at 
any election is, also, a private wrong for which an action 
will lie. 

The object of all legislation upon the subject, it may 
be repeated, is to provide for an unbiased, intelligent 



ELECTIONS. 221 

exercise of the right, by which the popular feeling, the 
voice of the people, is expressed, and an honest state- 
ment of the aofore^ate voice. 

or? o 

At an early day in our history as a nation, with a 
continent to people, the right of franchise was made to 
be easily acquired. 

Restrictions upon aliens and native born were few 
and easily removed. In Michigan, and others of the 
western states, there were and are no restrictions of 
importance excepting the one of residence. As the pop- 
ulation of the country increases, and interests grow 
more vast, an intelligent, patriotic use of the right to 
vote becomes more and more a necessity. In this state 
everything has been done possible, by an extensive and 
costly public school system, compulsory education and 
other means, to make those who will, intelligent citizens. 

It is self-evident that in a government by the people, 
where all interests are at the will of the majority, every 
citizen should vote, not blindly, and ignorant of what 
may be accomplished if there should be a majority of 
his opinion, but should participate in governing the 
state, with a full knowledge of what are state needs. 

Wise and honest rulers make good government. 

This is as true when all rule as when one or a few 
have all the power. 

Times of Holding Elections. 

What is known as the general election in this state is 
held each two years in the several wards and townships, 
on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November. 
At this election the people of the state choose, in the years 
they are required to be chosen, the electors for President 
and Vice-President of the United States. The people also 



222 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

elect a governor, a lieutenant governor, secretary of 
state, state treasurer, auditor general, attorney general, 
superintendent of public instruction, commissioner of 
the state land office, members of the state board of 
education, representatives in Congress, and senators 
and representatives in the state legislature, judges of 
probate, sheriff, clerks, treasurers, registers of deeds, 
prosecuting attorneys, circuit court commissioners, 
coroners. 1 

Notices of Election. — Between the first day of July 
and the first day of September preceding a general elec- 
tion, the secretary of state is required to prepare and 
cause to be delivered to the sheriff of each county in the 
state, a notice, in writing, stating what officers are to be 
elected at the next general election. He also, in the 
same time, must deliver to the sheriff a written notice 
stating the number of senators and representatives to be 
elected in each county, specifying the number of each 
district, and the limits of each district when there is 
more than one in the county. When a special election 
is ordered by the governor, the secretary of state de- 
livers to the sheriff of each of the counties in the election 
district a notice of the time of holding such election, the 
cause of vacancy in the office, the name of the officer 
and the time when his term of office will expire. When 
the sheriff receives any such notice he is required to 
cause a notice in writing to be delivered to the clerk of 
each township, and one of the inspectors of election in 
each ward in any city in his county. This notice must 
contain the substance of that received from the secretary 
of state. If there is more than one senatorial or repre- 
sentative district in the county, he delivers in each one 
^ee Howell's Statutes, Chap 9, for "Special Elections." 



ELECTIONS. 225 

only so much of the notice as applies to that district. 
The sheriff also notifies the same officers, at least twenty 
days before the general election, what county officers 
are to be chosen. The township clerk and the inspector 
receiving such notices from the sheriff are required to 
give ten days' notice, in writing, posted up in at least 
three of the most public places in the township, stating 
the time and place at which such election is to be held, 
and the officers to be chosen. Unless the township 
board otherwise direct the place of holding the election 
is the place of holding the last preceding township 
meeting. 

Inspectors of Election. — At the general election the 
supervisor, the justice of the peace not holding the office 
of supervisor or town clerk, whose term of office soonest 
expires, and the town clerk of each township, and the 
assessor and alderman or two aldermen in each ward in 
a city, are the inspectors of election, two of them con- 
stituting a quorum. If the town clerk is present, he 
shall be a clerk of the election, and one other is ap- 
pointed by the inspectors. If the town clerk is absent two 
clerks are appointed by the inspectors. The inspectors in 
cities appoint two competent persons as clerks. Each 
clerk and inspector is required to take the constitutional 
oath of office which any inspector may administer. Polls 
are opened at eight o'clock in the forenoon and closed 
at five in the afternoon. 

The polls may be adjourned one hour at noon in the 
discretion of the board. The inspectors are required to 
make proclamation of the opening and closing of the 
polls, and of each adjournment. The inspectors take 
the ballots, folded. It must be a paper ticket, contain- 
ing in writing or printing the name of the persons for 



224 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

whom the elector intends to vote and the office for each 
person. 

The vote must be given by the elector in person, in 
the township or ward where he resides. The inspectors 
are not permitted to examine ballots, to ascertain who is 
voted for. A ballot cast by mistake can not be with- 
drawn, nor can the elector again vote because of the 
mistake. 

The Canvass. — After polls are closed, the canvass or 
count of votes must be at once proceeded with. The 
law concerning this is mandatory. The count must be 
public; the result publicly and officially declared; the 
ballots sealed up, and the canvass concluded entirely 
before any adjournment can be had. If two or more 
ballots are found folded together so as to present the 
appearance of a single ballot, both must be destroyed. 
An error in spelling a name, not changing the sound, 
will not destroy a ballot. Thus, JBinegan may be 
counted for Finnegan. The designation of the person 
intended to be voted for by initials is not sufficient. No 
explanation or evidence can be received by the board or 
anywhere to show the intention of the voter. It must 
be proved by his ballot The board can only canvass and 
declare the result of the ballots found in the boxes. 
When a slip is used, it must be so placed on the ticket as 
to show beyond any question for whom the vote was 
cast for any office. 

The ballots must correspond in number to the num- 
ber of persons shown by the poll list to have voted. 

If there is an excess of ballots they must be replaced 
in the box, and one of the inspectors must publicly draw 
out and destroy, unopened, the excess. 

A statement of the result and one of the poll lists is 






ELECTIONS. 225 

given to the township clerk; in cities to the city clerk, 
and one poll list to the county clerk. A statement is 
also delivered to one of the inspectors appointed to 
attend the county canvass. The county board of can- 
vassers can not go behind the returns made by the elec- 
tion inspectors or city inspectors and canvassers. Their 
duties are merely ministerial. They are to determine 
the result of the vote as appears from the returns. 

No person can be declared elected unless he has more 
votes for an office than any other person. And this is true, 
though the person having the highest vote is ineligible to 
the office. The determination of the board is not con- 
clusive. But their determination and certificate is 
prima facie evidence of election and title to the office, 
and the certificate awarded entitles the holder to per- 
form the duties of the office, until the action of the 
board is reviewed by judicial proceedings and reversed. 

There is no space to use in describing the method of 
canvassing in representative, senatorial, judicial and 
congressional districts. We know something already of 
the Avork done by the state canvassers. 

The same principles apply in every case. 

Spring Elections. 

All officers are not chosen at the general election. 
Circuit judges, supreme court justices, regents of the 
university, are among the state officers chosen at the 
spring elections, held on the first Monday in April. We 
have seen what township officers are chosen at the town 
meetings. 

In cities and villages it is usual to elect city and 
village officers in the spring. Charter elections, as they 
are called, are not all hold on the same day, depending, 
P 



226 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

of course, upon the provisions in this respect found in 
the charter of the municipality. 

But there is little, if any, difference in respect to the 
forms pursued in the registration of electors, the voting 
and canvass of votes. 

QUESTIONS. 

Why is it proper to treat of elections in the part on 
state rather than the part of this work devoted to United 
States Government ? 

Where do citizens vote ? What authority determines 
the qualification of electors % Subject to what restric- 
tions ? 

What is the purpose of voting % What is accom- 
plished by the use of the elective franchise ? Of what 
importance is it that the citizen may vote ? Can every 
person in the state vote ? Why not ? How is the right 
conferred ? By what authority ? 

Once conferred, is the right to vote a valuable one ? 
In what respects ? Suppose one is deprived of the right 
to vote, how and in what respects has a wrong been 
committed ? A wrong to whom ? Upon whom may the 
right be conferred % From whom may it be taken % 

Write an abstract of what is said, showing who may 
vote. Is there similarity and uniformity in the general 
provisions in the different states? What persons are 
universally excluded from any participation in general 
elections ? What persons from voting at all elections i 
What is a minor 1 An alien ? Give examples of pro- 
visions in different states. 

Give in your own way the provisions in the Constitu- 
tion of the United States upon this subject. Give those 
in the Michigan Constitution ? Tell how an alien may 



TAXATION. 227 

become a citizen. What occasion is there for natural- 
ization laws ? Why should Congress make them ? 
What provisions in the United States laws about forfeit- 
ing citizenship ? What provision is there in the Michi- 
gan Constitution upon the same subject ? Tell what 
provision is made for a secret ballot and why it is made. 
Give as many reasons for it as occur to you. Write an 
abstract of what is said about the registration and resi- 
dence of electors. Why is registration important? 
Are there any penalties for illegally voting or preventing 
from voting ? What is the object of the legislation 
upon the subject ? Why should there be an intelligent, 
honest ballot '( 

Write an abstract of what is said upon the time of 
holding elections. Of Notices of Election. Of Inspec- 
tors of Election. Of The Canvass. What officers are 
elected at the April elections ? 

Write a brief abstract of the chapter. 



CHAPTER XL 

TAXATION. 

One of the necessary means to perpetuate and carry 
on government is money. The government, the whole 
society, can no more make money than can individuals. 
The power of the sovereign authority to take from the 
people what is needed for public purposes has never 
been questioned. The manner of doing this, however, 
has frequently been oppressive and unjust. We need 



228 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

not repeat what history has written. With civil liberty 
the rights of the citizen were better respected; with 
political liberty, the citizen had a voice in saying how, 
and to what extent, public burdens should be borne. In 
Michigan the people are sovereign. The policy of taxa- 
tion, and the manner of levying and collecting taxes, 
are whatever a majority will. 

So far as the power is concerned, the state may tax 
whom and what it will. It may select such persons or 
classes of persons, property and classes of property, as it 
pleases, to bear the public burdens. It may tax lightly 
to encourage one industry, and tax heavily to control or 
suppress a particular business. 

There are some principles connected with the taxing 
power which have grown with government. Some of 
these are expressed in the constitutions, federal and state. 
Some exist or are given effect in any system of taxation, 
others grow out of the relations between the federal and 
state governments and the exercise of proper powers by 
each. Some of these may be given : 

First. And this has been already stated, the policy 
of taxation is entirely with the legislature. With our 
division of the powers of government, the courts have 
nothing to do with the question of what property shall 
be taxed nor to what extent it shall be taxed. The 
courts exercising the power given to them, will see to it 
that so far as constitutional restrictions have been 
imposed upon the power and manner of taxing, those 
restrictions are enforced. Second. The levying of all 
taxes must be for public purposes only. With this 
question the courts have something to do. What pur- 
poses are public is a question of law, and not of legislative 
policy. For instance, the state can not vote taxes in aid 



TAXATION, 229 

of private enterprises. The Supreme Court of Michi- 
gan has held that towns can not vote aid to railroad 
corporations ; that a tax for the purpose of aiding in the 
building of a railroad can not lawfully be laid. f And 
the purpose must be a public one as regards the authority 
or body voting the tax. We have seen that counties 
and other municipal divisions of the state determine 
what taxes shall be laid within their respective limits. 
Manifestly, the board of supervisors of a count}' can not 
vote a tax upon property in another county. Neither 
can it authorize a tax upon the county to assist a city 
within the limits of the county to build a city hall. The 
city hall may be to the city a public necessity, to build 
which the proper authority might very properly lay 
taxes. But, so far as the county is concerned, it might 
as well lay and collect taxes to be given to some indi- 
vidual. It has been held competent for the legislature 
to authorize a town to tax itself to aid in the erection of 
a state educational institution in the town. The purpose 
was a public one as regarded the state at large, and the 
town was allowed to assume a special burden on the 
ground of special and peculiar benefits. 

Third. The property of citizens of other states own- 
ing property and doing business in the state, can not be 
taxed upon a basis requiring them to pay greater taxes 
than are imposed upon citizens of the state owning the 
same property or conducting the same kind of business. 
This restriction upon the taxing power is imposed by the 
Federal Constitution. 2 Corporations are not citizens 
within the meaning of this clause, and a corporation 
may be obliged to submit to such taxes as the state sees 

1 See People v. Salem, 20 Mich., 452. 

2 Art. 4, Sec. 2, Const. U. S. 



230 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

fit to impose as a condition of doing business in the 
state. This is no violation of the privileges and immu- 
nities of stockholders who reside in other states. 

Fourth. A tax which has the effect to impair the 
obligation of a contract can not be laid. 1 It has been 
held incompetent to tax in one state contracts owned in 
another, though payable in the state imposing the tax, 
and secured on property therein situate. 

Fifth. A state can not impose a tax on imports nor 
exports. Commerce is regulated by Congress. 2 A tax 
upon freight taken up within a state and carried out of 
it, or taken up out of a state and carried into it, is held 
to be a tax upon commerce between states, though no 
distinction is made between freight carried wholly 
within the state, and that carried out of or brought into 
it. An importer of foreign goods can not, as such, be 
subject to state taxation. But when the articles he has 
imported have passed from his hands, they may be taxed 
even though they are still in the original package. 3 

Sixth. Taxes laid must be uniform. This does not 
mean that all property must be taxed alike. But, recog- 
nizing the authority of the legislature to exempt certain 
classes of property from taxation, all property subject 
to the same general tax must be valued and taxed uni- 
formly. 

Seventh. A state can not tax agencies or property of 
the United States. If the state could tax at all, it 
might tax so as to interfere with the exercise of powers 
properly belonging to the United States, and so curtail 
its powers, or tax them out of existence. 

"Art I, Sec. 10, Const. U. S. 
2 Art. I, Sec. 8, Const. U. S. 
8 See Cooley on Taxation, Chap. Ill, and cases cited in notes 



TAXATION. 231 

Eighth. While the legislature of the state has all the 
power of taxation, not withheld or limited in the fed- 
eral and state constitutions, the state municipalities 
have only delegated powers. The extent and limit of 
the legislative powers given these corporations, have 
been explained. There are no intendments in favor of 
the power. The power to vote any particular tax must 
be conferred. But, it is generally understood, that for 
such purposes as they are created, they may tax. 

Ninth. Another principle which is always recog- 
nized as governing the manner of taxing is, that as 
respects the time and manner of taxing, and the amounts 
to be paid, they shall be fixed and certain. 

Tenth. Taxes are, as a rule, demanded in money. 
For the purpose of keeping common highways in repair, 
labor assessments may be made. Excepting these, all 
taxes in Michigan are collected in money. 

Constitutional Provisions. 

In Michigan the important provisions are : First. 
Every law which imposes, continues or revives a tax, 
shall distinctly state the tax, and the object to which it is 
to be applied ; and it shall not be sufficient to refer to 
any other law to fix such tax or object. Second. All 
assessments hereafter authorized shall be on property at 
its cash value. Third. The legislature shall provide an 
uniform rule of taxation, except on property paying 
specific taxes, and taxes shall be laid on such property 
as shall be prescribed by law. Fourth. The legislature 
may provide for the collection of specific taxes, from 
banking, railroad, plank road and other corporations 
hereafter created. Fifth. No person shall be deprived 
of life, liberty or property, without due process of law. 



232 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The citizen is, of course, entitled to have the same 
methods followed in the passing of a bill for raising 
money that govern legislation generally. 

Let us see how, in Michigan, the taxes are collected. 
And first, we will see what kinds of taxes, or what 
apportionment of taxes has been made. Taxes are not 
all laid simply for purposes of revenue. Taxes or bur- 
dens in the nature of taxes are laid, which have in view 
the good order of the society ; the regulation of rights 
and duties as between individuals ; the encouragement 
of industry and the discouragement of pernicious 
employments and business. The authority imposing 
this sort of taxes is called the police power. In the 
chapter under that head the subject will be more fully 
treated. 

There are also taxes levied by special assessments. 
The general levy of taxes is understood to be to exact 
contributions in return for the benefits of government. 
Special assessments are made upon the assumption that 
a portion of the community is to be specially benefitted. 

The proposed improvement is supposed to benefit 
a portion of the community by enhancing the value 
of property, etc., and the persons realizing the benefit 
are required to bear additional burdens in respect to it. 

Instances of this sort of taxation are seen in the taxes 
laid for paving streets, for sewers, drains, sidewalks, 
and the like improvements. Such taxes need not be 
imposed upon property in accordance with its cash 
value, though there must be uniformity in the manner 
of laying the tax. A paving tax assessed upon property 
in proportion to frontage on the street paved, is a man- 
ner of apportioning the tax approved by the courts. 

Where a ditch is dug through a township, a jury, 



TAXATION. 233 

empannelled for the purpose use their best judgment as 
to the percentage of benefit which will accrue to partic- 
ular pieces of property. 

A portion of the expense of administering the laws is 
paid in fees to officers. Justices of the peace, in civil 
causes, are paid entirely by the parties litigating. So 
are the officers of the court. An entry or county fee 
is required to be paid in civil cases in the circuit courts 
and in the supreme court. The fees of sheriffs, clerks 
of courts, stenographers, and other officers are paid by 
the individual requiring services. In criminal cases 
these fees are paid from the public treasury. 

It is the purpose here to examine more particularly 
the manner of levying and collecting general taxes. 
Under the authority to levy specific taxes, railroad and 
insurance, plank road, mining, telegraph, and other 
corporations doing business in the state are taxed upon 
the business done. Reports of the business are made 
to certain state officers, as has been learned, and the leg- 
islature having determined the percentage to be paid, 
there is nothing to be done but to calculate the tax and 

receive it. 1 

What Property is Taxed. 

All property within the jurisdiction of the state, not 
expressly exempt is subject to taxation. Personal 
property for the purposes of taxation, includes all goods 
and chattels within the state ; all ships, boats, and ves- 
sels belonging to inhabitants of the state, wherever they 
are ; all goods, chattels and effects belonging to inhabi- 
tants of the state situate without the state, excepting 
property actually and permanently invested in business 

1 The receipts into the state treasury to the credit of the specific 
tax fund for the fiscal year ending Sept. SO, 1882, were $676,941.09. 
10* 



234 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

in another state ; all indebtedness due inhabitants of 
this state, above the amounts owed by them, whether 
such indebtedness is due from individuals or from cor- 
porations, and whether such debtors reside in or out of 
the state ; all shares in corporations organized under the 
laws of the state, when the property is not exempt from 
taxation or is not taxable to itself ; all shares in banks 
organized in this state under any law of the United 
States, but from the value of shares is deducted the 
value of all the real estate taxed to the bank ; all shares 
in foreign corporations, except national banks, owned by 
inhabitants of this state ; all moneys ; all annuities and 
royalties ; all interests owned by individuals in lands, the 
fee of which is in the state or United States. Shares in 
corporations, the property of which is taxable to itself, 
are not assessed to the shareholder. 

The following property is exempt from taxation : 
First. Public property belonging to the United States, 
the state, to counties, cities, villages, townships and 
school districts, except lands Durchased by the state 
at tax sales held by it. 

There could be no purpose in taxing that property 
which the people by taxation have purchased for public 
use. The money to pay the taxes would have to be 
raised by taxation. 

Second. The personal property of library, benevo- 
lent, charitable, and scientific institutions incorporated 
under the laws of the state, and such real estate as is 
occupied by them for the purposes for which they are 
incorporated. Many of these corporations can not buy 
or sell or hold real estate except for the use of the cor- 
poration in carrying out its objects. But if not so 
restricted by charter or general law, then such real 



TAXATION. 235 

estate as is held for gain or bought by investing corpor- 
ate funds, and not actually occupied by the corporation 
for its purposes, must be taxed as other property is 
taxed. 

Third. All houses of public worship, with the land 
on which they stand, the furniture therein and all 
rights in the pews. The parsonage owned by any 
religious society and occupied as such. The custom of 
exempting this class of property from public burdens is 
quite universal. More recently it has come to be criti- 
cized. 

Fourth. Lands used exclusively as burial grounds ; 
right of burial in them ; tombs and monuments erected. 
But the stock of a corporation owning a burying ground 
is taxed, and so are vaults and tombs built and kept for 
rent, in whole or in part. 

Fifth. Library or school books of the value of one 
hundred and fifty dollars ; the personal apparel of every 
individual ; all family pictures. The reason for this 
discrimination is plain and need not be given. 

Sixth. Furniture and utensils in use in any dwelling- 
house, of the value of two hundred dollars ; musical 
instruments not exceeding in value one hundred and 
fifty dollars ; other personal property owned and used 
by any householder in connection with his house or busi- 
ness, of the value of two hundred dollars. 

Seventh. The personal and real estate of persons who, 
in the opinion of the supervisor, are, by reason of poverty, 
unable to contribute towards public charges. 

Voting the Tax. ' 

There must be a determination by the proper author- 
ities of the amount of tax to be raised for each purpose. 



236 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

This determination, we have seen, is an exercise of legis- 
lative power. For the purposes of the state government, 
the state legislature votes the taxes. It also fixes the 
limits within which local bodies and the people of locali- 
ties, exercising legislative powers, may vote taxes. 

These votes are all made upon estimates of probable 
public necessities and expenditures. 

We have seen that estimates and various reports 
are required to be furnished to the legislature. Like 
reports, and reports of expenditures are required from 
all state institutions. Some of these institutions receive 
money from persons enjoying their benefits. This, 
of course, lessens the public burden. The following 
table shows the general taxes by name, some of the pur- 
poses for their use, and the authority voting the taxes. 

STATE TAX — VOTED BY THE STATE LEGISLATURE. 

For State Indebtedness. 1 

For Public Expenditures, in building, etc. 

1 Michigan, practically, has no indebtedness. In October, 1880, 
the debt outstanding was less than one million dollars, while the 
balance to the credit of the sinking fund, which was a fund provided 
for in the Constitution of the state to meet state indebtedness, was 
over one million, two hundred thousand dollars. Up to the year 
1881, the specific taxes, excepting those received from mining com- 
panies in the upper peninsula, had been devoted, under the Constitu- 
tion, to the payment of the interest upon the primary school, 
university, and other educational funds, and the interest and princi- 
pal of the state debt in the order named. This was to continue 
until the extinguishment of the state debt, other than the debt to 
educational funds, when these specific taxes were to be added to and 
constitute a part of the primary school interest fund. In January, 
1881, the Supreme Court held that the state debt was practically 
extinguished, and ordered the surplus of specific taxes paid to the 
primary school fund. See Const. Mich. Art. XIV, Sees. 1, 2; Audi- 
tor General v. State Treasurer, 45 Mich., 161, 






TAXATION. 



237 



Penal and 
niatory. 



Refor- 



For State Institutions. { 



Salaries. 



Charitable Institu- 
tions. 



Educational 
tutions. 



Insti- 



l 



State Prison at Jack- 
son. 

State House of Cor- 
rection at Ionia. 

Reform school for 
girls at Adrian. 

Industrial school for 
boys at Lansing. 

Asylum for the In- 
sane, at Kalamazoo 
and Pontiac. 

Asylum for the Deaf 
and Dumb, at Flint. 

Asylum for the Blind, 
at Lansing. 

State Public School, 
at Coldwater. 

State Normal School, 
at Ypsilanti. 

State University, at 
Ann Arbor. 

State Agricultural Col- 
lege, at Lansing. 



State Officers and Clerks. 
Circuit and Supreme Court Judges, and Officers of Courts. 
Officers and Employe's of various State institutions. 
Members of the Legislature. 



COUNTY TAXES. — THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS — THE PEOPLE OF 
THE COUNTY. 



Salaries. 



For County Indebtedness, judgments, bonds, etc* 
For necessary County Buildings, repairs, etc. 
' Sheriff. 
Clerk. 
Treasurer. 

Prosecuting Attorney. 
Judge of Probate. 
Keeper of Poorhouse and Farm. 
[ Supervisors. 
Of Sheriffs, Constables and Justices for services in criminal 
cases. 

Fees. ^J Of Jurors, in Circuit Courts, and in Justices' Courts, in crim- 
inal cases. 
[ Witnesses in criminal cases. 
Expenses of boarding prisoners at County jail — paid to Sheriff. 
Poorhouse and farm — under County system of caring for poor, 
County aid to indigent persons not in poorhonsc 



238 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



TOWN TAXES.— THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWNSHIP — THE TOWNSHIP 

BOARD. 

Township Indebtedness and interest thereon. 

Salaries of township officers. 

Township buildings, parks, burying grounds, pounds, jail. 

HIGHWAY TAXES. 

Where assessed in money ; or, 

Highway taxes over and above the labor assessed. 

SCHOOL TAXES. 1 

One mill tax — by the Legislature, general law. 

f Teachers' wages. 
Other School taxes-the people J Necessaries for schoolhouse. 
of the School District. P < K ? w ^hoolhouse; repairs; en- 

larging. 
^ New schoolhouse site. 

In both municipalities the taxes 
are for the expenses and necessary 
improvement of the municipality: 
buildings, water - works, paving, 
gas, salaries of city officers, cost 
of city administration, jails, police, 
fire department, cemetery, costs 
incurred in enforcing municipal 
ordinances, pounds, public health, 



CITY TAXES. — BY THE COMMON 
COUNCIL OP THE CITY — THE 
PEOPLE OF THE CITY. 

VILLAGE TAXES. 

By the Board of Trustees or 

Common Council. 
By the inhabitants of the Vil- 



lage. I cross walks. 

Apportioning the Tax. 

The state, county, township and school taxes having 
been voted, there yet remains the apportionment and 

1 Under the existing laws, there was transferred to the primary 
school interest fund, from the specific tax fund, under the Supreme 
Court decision before referred to, $814,044.98. During the fiscal 
year ending Sept. 30, 1882, there was paid in apportionments to 
counties from the primary school interest fund, $639,068.47. The 
amount distributed will naturally increase from year to year for some 
time to come. When all the school lands have been sold no more 
accessions can come from that source. Fines collected for violations 
of state laws are devoted to the support of township libraries, unless 
otherwise ordered by the township board of the township, or the 
board of education of the city. But they must be used for either 
library or school purposes. Fines collected for violation of city 
ordinances are not included in the meaning of the constitutional 
provision. 



TAXATION. 239 

spreading of the taxes. This we have seen must be 
done uniformly. As the local agencies and officers col- 
lect not only local but state taxes, there must be an 
apportionment of the tax among the several municipal 
divisions of the state. 

To begin at the first steps in this direction, we find 
the supervisor in each township and the assessor in each 
city preparing a list of the taxable property in the town- 
ship and city. This list the assessing officer makes by 
passing around through the township or city, calling 
upon the inhabitants, requiring from them statements of 
the taxable property possessed by them, real and per- 
sonal, and using whatever knowledge or means of 
knowledge he has to get a correct statement. Property 
owned by persons resident in the community is assessed 
to them by name. Property owned by non-residents is 
assessed in a separate part of the roll. There is carried 
out opposite the name of each person assessed the 
descriptions of real estate owned, with a valuation, in 
each, placed upon each separate parcel by the assessing 
officer. The personal estate of the taxpayer is also 
valued and placed on the roll, but the specific articles of 
personalty are not enumerated. 

The roll, when completed, is called the assessment 
roll. 

After being completed, a certain number of days are 
allowed for inspection and review of the rolls by the 
taxpayers. The purpose is to allow any mistakes in the 
rolls to be corrected. During these days the supervisor, 
and two taxpaying electors of the township, appointed by 
the township board, sit as a board of review. They 
meet on the Tuesday next following the third Monday in 
May, at the office of the supervisor. At this meeting, 



240 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

and during the week, this board examines the roll, and 
may of its own motion add to the roll the names of per- 
sons, the value of personal property, and the descrip- 
tions and value of real estate omitted from the roll. 
The board passes on each valuation and enters the 
valuation fixed by it in a separate column. The board 
also meets at the same place on the fourth Monday in 
May, and continues in session that day and the day follow- 
ing, and as much longer as is necessary to complete the 
review of the assessment roll, not exceeding five days in 
all. Any person complaining of his assessment may be 
examined on oath. After the review is completed, the 
board, or a majority of them, are required to indorse a 
statement thereon to the effect that it is the assessment 
roll of the town for the year. 

At the regular meeting of the board of supervisors 
in each county these rolls are present. 

The board examines the rolls of the several townships 
and cities and equalizes them. That is, they are required 
to ascertain whether the assessments of real estate in the 
several townships and wards of the county, as made by 
the assessing officers, are relatively equal. 

If they are not, the board adds to or deducts from 
the aggregate assessed valuation of each township and 
ward such an amount as will make the assessments of 
real estate equal. Not that anything is added to or 
deducted from the rolls themselves, or that any change is 
made in them. But, for the purpose of apportioning the 
state and county taxes among the townships and wards, 
a basis has to be arrived at for the action of the board 
in making the apportionment. Record is made of the 
action of the board by its clerk. The valuation put 
upon each township by the board is called the equalized 



- 



TAXATION. 241 

valuation of the township. The aggregate of the 
equalized valuations of each township and ward is the 
equalized valuation of the county. 

In every fifth year the board equalizes the rolls in 
June The ao^regate is transmitted to the state board 
of equalization. That board, as we have seen, adds to 
or deducts from the aggregate valuation of each county 
such an amount as will, in its opinion, make the valua- 
tion of counties relatively equal. Upon the values as 
fixed by the state board, the state tax is apportioned by 
the auditor general among the several counties. The 
board of supervisors of each county apportion the state 
and county taxes among the several wards and townships, 
each township and ward paying such a proportion of the 
state and county taxes as its equalized valuation bears to 
the aggregate equalized valuation of the county. A 
record of this apportionment is made and a certificate 
showing the action of the board is furnished the super- 
visor and the township clerk and the clerks of cities. 

The taxes voted by the township and township board 
upon the township, are certified to the supervisor by the 
town clerk. School taxes voted, he learns about from 
the same official. Having thus a completed assessment 
roll, and the several amounts to be raised upon the tax- 
able property of the township, the supervisor or assessor 
makes out a tax roll. 

This is a copy of the assessment roll as corrected by 
the board of review and board of supervisors, and car- 
ried out opposite each description of property and 
opposite the valuation of personalty, is spread, in 
separate columns, the proportion of tax to be paid. 
Each tax has a separate column. State, county, town, 
Q 11 



242 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

highway, school, and any special taxes appear separately 
upon the roll. 

The tax roll being completed, the supervisor endorses 
upon it or attaches to it a warrant. This warrant com- 
mands the treasurer of the township to collect from the 
persons named in the roll the total amount set opposite 
their respective names, within a certain number of days. 
Authorizes him to enforce collection, if it is refused, by 
distress and sale of goods and chattels. Tells him to 
what funds the money shall be credited and what amount 
for state and county taxes shall be paid over to the 
county treasurer. The roll is delivered to the treasurer. 
The county treasurer charges him with the amount of 
state and county taxes; the township clerk charges him 
with the amount of other taxes. 

The law provides upon what days he shall be at his 
office for the purpose of receiving taxes. 

In practice, the township and city treasurers, or city 
collectors, collect such taxes as are paid. Sometimes a 
sale of goods is made to enforce payment. They keep 
out, from the whole amount collected, the amount of 
local general taxes. They return to the county treasurer 
the surplus moneys and a list of such lands as are delin- 
quent for non-payment of taxes. The amount of the 
delinquent taxes and of money paid is credited to the 
township and city treasurers. Such taxes as are not 
paid to the county treasurer after this return are, with 
enough money to make good the state taxes, returned to 
the auditor general, at Lansing. Taxes may be paid at the 
auditor general's office, or at the county treasurer's 
office, up to the day of sale and on the day of the sale 
hereinafter spoken of. 

There is always returned to the auditor general's 



TAXATION. 243 

office a list of lands from each county delinquent for 
taxes. Some are owned by residents and some by non- 
residents of the state. In the place of the contribution 
asked for, the state has nothing but the right to sell the 
lands for the amount of the tax. 

The methods which should be used by the state to 
enforce the payment of taxes, to secure its revenues 
from those not willing or not able to pay, must always 
be the subject of grave differences of opinion. All 
agree that some way must be provided by which the 
taxes shall be collected. In the end, if taxes could not 
in some way be collected, one-half, or fewer, perhaps, of 
the people in each township would bear all the public 
burdens. 

There are always some who will not and some 
who can not pay. It has been the practice in Michi- 
gan, after allowing a certain time for redemption, 
to sell lands delinquent for taxes to the highest 
bidder. Rather, to sell as little of the land returned 
as the bidder will take and pay the tax. These sales 
have been made at the office of the county treasurer, 
that officer conducting the sales. For lands bid off at 
the sale a certificate was given, which, after time for 
redemption had expired, would entitle the purchaser or 
his assigns to a tax deed from the state. Lands not bid 
by individuals have been struck to the state, which held 
the titles for sale to any person desiring to purchase and 
pay the taxes and charges. The titles acquired under 
these sales are what are known as tax titles. 

Under the present law a longer interval before sale 
is given than formerly, and a proceeding in the circuit 
court in chancery for the various counties is had. Op- 
portunity is given to parties to appear and show reasons 



244 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

against the validity of the tax. If none are shown, or 
those shown are not considered good, a decree is entered 
for the sale of such interest in the land as the bidder 
Avill take and pay the taxes. In most cases this sale is, 
under the law, a final transfer of the property in fee to 
the bidder. 

There are some grounds upon which the sale may be 
opened or set aside. It is impossible to state the 
requirements of the tax laws. It is proper to say that 
the courts require that tax proceedings shall, in all essen- 
tial matters, follow the law strictly and exactly. Tax 
titles have been held of but little account in this state, 
not because the law has not been a proper one, but 
because it has been the rule that somewhere in the action 
of bodies and officers, voting, assessing, apportioning, 
or collecting the taxes, rules made for the benefit and 
protection of the taxpayer, have been persistently, and, 
it would seem, systematically disregarded. 1 

It can be said not only of general tax laws and the 
levying and collecting of general taxes, but of all special 
assessments of taxes, and, indeed, of all proceedings 
where the result u^ay be to deprive the citizen of his 
property, that, first, the law authorizing and directing 
the proceedings must be framed with due regard to the 
principles regarding private rights, which underlie and 
are incorporated into our federal and state consti- 
tutions. Second, that in executing the laws made, no 
right or privilege of the citizen can be cut off. There 

1 The present tax law was passed in 1882. The first sales of lands 
under this law took place in May, 1884. Immediately a case was 
carried to the Supreme Court of the State, in which the constitution- 
ality of the law was attacked. That case is still undecided. This 
fact will account, in part, for the lack of statement regarding the 
oresent tax laws. 



TAXATION. 245 

are irregularities in official action, which do not preju- 
dice any one's right. But there must be careful com- 
pliance with all essentials. 

There is but one way for any public officer to perform 
the duties imposed on him. That is to follow the law. 
There is no reason why the proceedings to levy and col- 
lect taxes should not be conducted in such a way, that, 
giving all possible leniency to the delinquent, in the end 
the title passed would be perfect. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is taxation ? The necessity for it ? Can you 
give some historical examples of unjust and oppressive 
taxation? Is the power to tax a sovereign power? 
Extent of the power ? Is the power restricted in Michi- 
gan? By what? What authority decides upon the 
policy of taxation? To what extent can the courts con- 
trol taxation ? For what purposes only may taxes be 
laid % Why ? Tell what you can about the public pur- 
poses for which any municipality may levy taxes. Give 
illustrations. Give the restrictions upon state taxation 
found in the Federal Constitution. What do you under- 
stand is meant by an uniform rule of taxation ? Illus- 
trate your idea. 

What authority to tax Inwe state municipalities ? 
What is a municipal corporation ? What rule has be- 
come to be universally recognized here in any system of 
taxation? Illustrate the rule. In what commodity are 
taxes demanded to be paid ? Exceptions ? Give the 
Michigan constitutional provisions relating to taxation. 
Are there any excepting those given in the text? 
Examine the constitution and see if there are not some 
Qthers which directly or indirectly apply? What do 



246 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

you understand by apportionment of taxes ? What 
taxes are not laid for revenue? What reason is 
there for laying any taxes except upon a revenue 
basis ? Give your own ideas about this. Under what 
power are some taxes laid ? Give some illustrations of 
taxing under the police power of the state ? What do 
you understand by general assessments or general taxes ? 
What by special taxes ? Illustrate. Upon what basis 
must special taxes be laid ? Need it be upon a basis 
of cash valuation ? Can you give any reasons for this ? 
Do we pay taxes except to the regular tax collector? 
What are specific taxes ? Tell, generally, what property 
in Michigan is subject to taxation. What property is 
excepted? Tell about the voting of the tax. What 
authority votes the state tax ? Why ? For what pur- 
poses is it to be used ? Name some of the objects to 
support which, state taxes are levied. 

What authority votes county taxes ? When do the 
people vote county taxes ? To what extent may the 
county authorities or the people vote taxes? What 
authority fixes the limit ? What right has the legis- 
lature of the state to limit municipal taxation? Tell by 
what authority town taxes are voted. City taxes ? Vil- 
lage taxes? Give, in your own way, a description of 
the manner in which taxes voted are apportioned to par- 
ticular property. What officers receive taxes? In 
what manner is payment enforced? Tell about the 
sales of lands for taxes. What can you say about the 
protection which should be afforded private rights in the 
levying and collecting of taxes % Give your own ideas 
about what a proper tax law should provide. 



POLICE POWER OF THE STATE. 247 

CHAPTEE XII. 

POLICE POWER OF THE STATE. 

There is another recognized power in the states 
''which, like that of taxation, pervades every depart- 
ment of business and reaches to every interest and every 
subject of profit or enjoyment. We refer to what is 
known as the police power. The police of a state, in 
a comprehensive sense, embraces its system of internal 
regulation, by which it is sought not only to preserve 
the public order and to prevent offenses against the 
state, but also to establish for the intercourse of citizen 
with citizen those rules of good manners and good neigh- 
borhood which are calculated to prevent a conflict of 
rights, and to insure to each the uninterrupted enjoy- 
ment of his own, so far as is reasonably consistent with 
a like enjoyment of rights by others." * It is one of the 
maxims of government that " all property is held subject 
to those general regulations which are necessary to the 
common good and general welfare." 

Exercise of the Power. 

The exercise of this power in the states has been left 
with the states and can not be taken from them and 
exercised by Congress. But a state can not, in the exer- 
cise of this power, interfere with any of the powers of 
Congress. The power to establish police regulations 
may be, and is, delegated to municipal corporations. 
1 Cooley Const. Limitations, 572. 



248 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

There may be exercise of the power by the Federal 
authority within the limits of powers delegated to it. 

Power Exercised for Precaution and Prevention. 

Police measures are very largely precautionary or 
preventive. That is, they have for their aim and object 
the constant maintenance of public order, and enforc- 
ing respect of private and public rights. Perhaps a 
better idea can be given of what the power is by giving 
instances of its exercise, approved by the courts. Exer- 
cising this power, the state, and its municipal divisions, 
may control and regulate the public use of navigable 
waters ; may regulate the grade of railways and pre- 
scribe how they shall cross each other ; may regulate the 
speed of trains at highways and other crossings ; require 
the locomotive whistle to be sounded or bell rung ; may 
make quarantine laws and health regulations of every 
description, though they go to the extent of destroying 
private property infected with disease ; may make reg- 
ulations for the use of highways ; provide for . the 
destruction of private property to prevent the spread of 
a fire ; forbid the erection of wooden buildings within 
certain limits in cities ; forbid further burials in ceme- 
teries in thickly settled parts of cities; regulate the keep- 
ing, transporting and handling of gunpowder and such 
noxious things ; require that poisonous drugs when sold, 
shall be labelled, the label showing the antidote for the 
poison ; provide for the inspection of meats and pro- 
visions kept for sale and the condemnation of such as 
are unwholesome ; make prohibitory liquor laws, for 
prevention of intemperance and crime ; regulate the 
dealing in liquors ; prohibit the keeping of swine in 
thickly populated portions of a community, and slaughter 



POLICE POWER OF THE STATE. 249 

houses and such kinds of business as are injurious to the 
public ; forbid the sale of indecent and obscene books 
and prints ; regulate the hours of labor of women and 
children in factories. In short, by this "general police 
power of the state, persons and property are subjected 
to all kinds of restraints and burdens, in order to secure 
the general comfort, health, and prosperity of the state ; 
of the perfect right in the legislature to do which, no 
question ever was, or, upon acknowledged general prin- 
ciples, ever can be made, so far as natural persons are 
concerned." ' 

Limitations Upon Police Power. 

Laws which the legislature assumes to pass in the 
exercise of the police power, can not, of course, contra- 
vene any constitutional provisions. So of the regula- 
tions made by municipal corporations. The legislature 
can not delegate to a municipality a right which it does 
not possess. 

The greatest number of questions raised regarding 
the exercise of police power, have been under the pro- 
visions in the United States Constitution forbidding the 
passing of laws which violate the obligations of con- 
tracts, and giving the right to regulate commerce, to 
Congress. Under the first of these it has been repeat- 
edly held by the courts that all contracts and rights are 
held subject to this power. That regulations which 
affect them may not only be established but may be 
changed by a state. We have learned, elsewhere, that 
a legislative grant to a corporation may be a contract 
which gives inviolable rights. But it has been held that 

1 Redfield, Ch. J., in Thorpe v. Rutland & Burlington R. R. Co., 
27 Vermont 149. See generally on the subject Chap. XVI, of 
Cooler's Constitutional Limitations. 



250 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



such a charter does not imply an undertaking on the 
part of the state, that the rights conferred can only be 
exercised in the manner permissible when granted, 
and under regulations then existing. The rights stand 
on the same footing as to the proper rules for their regu- 
lation, protection and enjoyment as the rights and 
privileges of citizens in general. 

But, the regulations must have reference to the com- 
fort, safety, or welfare of society ; must not be in conflict 
with any provisions of the charter, and must not take 
from the corporation any essential rights given by the 
charter. ' 

To illustrate, if a corporation is chartered with the 
right to take tolls from passengers, a law allowing 
certain classes of persons to go free, would be void. 
But, it has been held, in cases where the legislature had 
reserved the right to amend, alter and repeal the charter 
of a railroad company, that a law establishing the max- 
imum rate per mile of charges for carrying freight and 
passengers, was not unconstitutional. And this power 
is upheld even though there is no reserved right of 
amendment in granting the charter. So laws punishing 
neglect and misconduct in operating railroads and 
ferries, are held proper, and laws allowing recoveries 
for injuries for neglect of proper regulations. 

Where power is delegated to a municipal corporation 
to make police regulations, such regulations, can not, of 
course, have any force or effect outside of the limits 
of the municipality. A state law requiring the master 
of every vessel engaged in foreign commerce to pay 
a certain sum to a state officer for every passenger 
brought from a foreign country into the state, was held 

1 Cooley, Const Lim., 577. 



he 



POLICE POWER OF THE STATE. 251 

void as a law regulating commerce. So was a state law 
imposing a special tax on every Chinese person over 
eighteen years of age, for each month's residence in 
California ; and a law of Maryland, requiring an impor- 
ter of foreign goods by the package or bale, to take out 
a license and pay fifty dollars for it. 

But, a law of New York, requiring the master of 
every vessel arriving from a foreign port, to report to 
the mayor an account of his passengers, was sustained. 
The object being to prevent New York from being 
burdened by an influx of persons from foreign countries 
and other states, and that the necessary precautions 
to prevent them becoming chargeable as paupers, might 
be taken. 

Quarantine and health laws are sustained, and state 
regulation of pilots and pilotage. 

Laws requiring all persons to refrain from pursuing 
ordinary callings on the first day of the week are police 
regulations, and are not unconstitutional as a restraint 
upon trade and commerce. 

Penalties for Violating Police Regulations. 

The authority making proper regulations under the 
police power, may impose penalties for the violation 
of the regulations. Penalties imposed by state laws, as 
upon the commission of crimes, are enforced in the 
courts having jurisdiction of the offense. We have seen 
that in cities there may be municipal courts erected 
for the purpose of administering the law in these cases. 

''Whether the prohibited act or omission shall be 
made a criminal oflfense, punishable under the general 
laws, or subject to punishments under municipal by-laws, 
or, on the other hand, the party be deprived of all 



252 CIVIL GOVERNMENT, 

remedy for any right which, but for the regulation, he 
might have had against other persons, are questions 
which the legislature must decide." ! 

Taxes Under Police Power. 

" The distinction between a demand of money under 
this power, and one made under the power to tax, is not 
so much one of form as of substance.* The proceedings 
may be the same in the two cases, though the purpose is 
essentially different. " 2 

We have seen that taxes laid need not be for revenue 
only, though the primary purpose is revenue. That is, 
that in the manner of levying and apportionment of the 
tax, regard may be had to regulation of affairs in the 
community. 

Where revenue, however, is the primary object, it is 
taxation. Where regulation is the primary purpose, the 
case can be referred specially to the police power 

Instances. 

Assessments for constructing sidewalks in cities and 
populous communities. It is usual to give the munici- 
pality power not only to order the walks, but to pre- 
scribe the kind of materials to be used, and to itself 
construct walks if owners of property refuse to do so in 
the time given, the expense being collectible from the 
property owner or made a lien on his property. Assess- 
ments for building sewers; levee assessments, to protect 
country bordering on streams or bodies of water from 
overflow, generally looked upon as a species of local 
tax, but the duty might be imposed on residents or 



1 Cooley, Const. Lim., 750. 
3 Cooley on Taxation, 396. 



POLICE POWER OF THE STATE. 253 

property owners to turn oat periodically and give per- 
sonal attention and labor to the construction of these 
defenses. ! 

Laws requiring owners of marshes and low lands to 
drain them, are proper exercise of police power. 

One of the most common kinds of assessments for 
regulation is that upon the business or occupation of 
persons. 

The limitation is one of discretion and policy, the 
question presented being whether the business or occu 
pation is of the kind or character rendering regulation 
important for public protection. 

In exercising this control the most common form of 
proceeding is to license the business or occupation, 
charging a license fee. A license is a privilege granted 
by the state. It may or may not be on payment of a 
valuable consideration. 

To be a privilege it must give or grant some right 
which, without the grant, would not exist. 

But the thing to be done need not be unlawful in itself. 
It may be prohibited in order to compel the taking of 
a license. The grant may be from the state directly or 
through a municipal corporation. 

A municipal corporation has no inherent power to 
grant licenses. Its authority must come from the state. 

Instances. 

Marriage Licenses. — The object being to prevent 
marriages between improper persons, or against the will 
of those persons who ought to be consulted in the 
matter. 

License to Sell Liquors. — It has been the uniform 

1 Cooley on Taxation, 402. 



254 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

custom to subject this business to regulation, as a busi- 
ness dangerous to public peace and public morals. 

Lotteries are usually licensed. License is often re- 
quired for the keeping of dogs, often for revenue, 
usually to have some person responsible for every animal 
of the kind protected by the law. Hachnen, draymen, 
hawkers, auctioneers, transient persons selling goods, bil- 
liard and 2>ool tables and rooms, are instances of places 
and employments usually prohibited unless licensed. 
If a license fee is required, to that extent the business 
is taxed under police power. 

The license is usually issued by some ministerial 
officer of the state or municipality. The number of 
licenses to be granted to any particular kind of business 
may be limited. 

A common measure is to reserve authority to recall 
or revoke licenses if the rights conferred are not exer- 
cised as they should be. Bonds for the proper exercise 
of the right conferred are often required. 

QUESTIONS. 

Tell what you can about the police power of the 
state — what it means. Where does it come from? 
How long has it existed? What is embraced in the 
power ? 

Upon what maxim in government is the power 
founded ? Is it exercised by federal or state authority ? 
For what purpose is it particularly exercised ? Give 
illustrations. Give the limitations upon the power. 
Under what constitutional provisions are laws made 
under the right most often questioned ? Tell what you 
can about this. Give illustrations. Can you think of 
others ? May penalties be imposed for violating police 



POLICE POWER OF THE STATE. 200 

regulations ? What would a regulation of the kind be 
worth if no penalty was imposed ? Write an abstract of 
what is said about taxes imposed under this power. 

What is the difference between a tax for revenue and 
one for regulation? Under what power is a tax for 
revenue imposed? Give illustrations of assessments 
under the police power. What is a license ? May it be 
for revenue only? What authority grants licenses? 
May the authority be delegated ? To what bodies ? Give 
instances of licensed occupations. By whom issued ? 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 



The People of the State of Michigan do Ordain this Constitution : 

ARTICLE I. 
BOUNDARIES. 

The State of Michigan consists of and has jurisdiction over the territory 
embraced within the following boundaries, to- wit: Commencing at a point on the 
eastern boundary line of the State of Indiana, where a direct line drawn from the 
southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the most northerly cape of the Maumee 
Bay shall intersect the same, said point, being the northwest corner of the State of 
Ohio, as established by act of Congress, entitled "An act to establish the northern 
boundary line of the State of Ohio, and to provide for the admission of the State 
of Michigan into the Union upon the conditions therein expressed," approved June 
fifteenth, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six ; thence with the said boundary 
line of the State of Ohio till it intersects the boundary line between the United States 
and Canada in Lake Erie; thence with said boundary line between the United States 
and Canada through the Detroit River, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior, to a point 
where the said line last touches Lake Superior; thence in a direct line through Lake 
Superior to the mouth of the Montreal river; thence through the middle of the 
main channel of the said river Montreal to the head waters thereof; thence in a 
direct line to the center of the channel between Middle and South Islands, in the 
Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the southern shore of Lake Brule; 
thence along said southern shore, and down the river Bruie to the main channel 
of the Menominee river; thence down the center of the main channel of the same to 
the center of the most usual ship channel of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan; thence 
through the center of the most usual ship channel of the said bay to the middle 
of Lake Michigan; thence through the middle of Lake Michigan to the northern 
boundary of the State of Indiana, as that line was established by the act of Congress 
of the nineteenth of April, eighteen hundred and sixteen; thence due east with the 
northern boundary line of the said State of Indiana to the northeast corner thereof; 
and thence south with the eastern boundary line of Indiana to the place of beginning. 

ARTICLE II. 

SEAT OP GOVERNMENT. 

Seo. 1. The Seat of Government shall be at Lansing, where it is now established, 

ARTICLE III. 

DIVISIONS OF THE POWERS OF GOVERNMENT. 

Sec. 1. The powers of Government are divided into three departments; the 
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. 

Sec. 2. No person belonging to one department shall exercise the powers prop- 
erly belonging to another, except in the cases expressly provided in this Consti- 
tution. 

ARTICLE IV. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Sec. 1. The Legislative power is vested in a Senate and House of Representa- 
tives. 

356 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 25? 



Sec. 2. The Senate shall consist of thirty-two members. Senators shall be 
elected for two years, and by single districts. Such districts shall be numbered 
from one to thirty-two, inclusive; each of which shall choose one Senator. No 
county shall be divided in the formation of Senate districts, except such county shall 
be equitably entitled to two or more Senators. 

Sko. 3. The House of Representatives shall consist of not less than sixty-four, 
nor more than one huudred members. Representatives shall be chosen for two 
years, and by single districts. Each Representative district shall contain, as nearly 
as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, exclusive of persons of Indian descent 
who are not civilized, or are members of any tribe, and shall consist of convenient 
and contiguous territory; but no township or city shall be divided in the formation 
of a Representative district. When any township or city shall contain a population 
which entitles it to more than one Representative, then such township or city shall 
elect, by general ticket, the number of Representatives to which it is entitled. Each 
county hereafter organized, with such territory as maybe attached thereto, shall 
be entitled to a separate Representative, when it has attained a population equal to a 
moiety of the ratio of representation. In every county entitled to more than one 
Representative, the board of supervisors shall assemble at such time and place 
as the Legislature shall prescribe, and divide the same into Representative districts 
equal to the number of Representatives to which such county is entitled by law, and 
shall cause to be filed in the offices of the Secretary of State and clerk of such county, 
a description of such Representative districts, specifying the number of each 
district and population thereof, according to the last preceding enumeration. 

Sec. 4. The Legislature shall provide by law for an enumeration of the inhabit- 
ants in the j T ear eighteen huudred and fifty-four, and every ten years thereafter; 
and at the first session after each enumeration so made, and also at the first session 
after each enumeration by the authority of the United States, the Legislature shall 
re-arrange the Senate districts and apportion anew the Representatives among the 
counties and districts, according to the number of inhabitants, exclusive of persons 
of Indian descent who are not civilized, or are members of any tribe. Each appor- 
tionment, and the division into Representative districts by any board of supervisors, 
shall remain unaltered until the return of another enumeration. 

Sec. 5. Senators and Representatives shall be citizens of the United States, and 
qualified electors in the respective counties and districts which they represent. A 
removal from their respective counties or districts shall be deemed a vacation of 
their office. 

Sec. 6. No person holding any office under the United States [or this State], 
or any county office, except notaries public, officers of the militia, and officers elected 
by townships, shall be eligible to or have a seat in either house of the Legislature; 
and all votes given for any such persons shall be void. 

Sec. 7. Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, 
or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest. They shall not be subject to any 
civil process during the session of the Legislature, or for fifteen days next before 
the commencement and after the termination of each session. They shall not be 
questioned in any other place for any speech in either house. 

Sec. 8. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business; but 
a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of 
absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may 
prescribe. 

Sec. 9. Each house shall choose its own officers, determine the rules of its 
proceedings, and judge of the qualifications, elections, and returns of its members; 
and may, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected, expel 
a member. No member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause, nor for 
any cau«e known to his constituents antecedent to his election. The reason for such 
expulsion shall be entered upon the journal, with the names of the members voting 
on the question. 

II 11* 



258 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



Sec. 10. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the 
same, except such parts as may require secrecy. The yeas and nays of the members 
of either house, on any question, shall be entered on the journal at the request of 
one-fifth of the members elected. Any member of either house may dissent from 
and protest against any act, proceeding, or resolution which he may deem injurious 
to any person or the public, and have the reason of his dissent entered on the 
journal. 

Sec. 11. In all elections by either house, or in joint convention, the votes shall 
be given viva voce. All votes or nominations to the Senate shall be taken by yeas 
and nays, and published with the journal of its proceedings. 

Sec. 12. The doors of each house shall be open, unless the public welfare 
requires secrecy. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn lor 
more than three days, nor to any other place than where the Legislature may 
then be in session. 

Sec. 13. Bills may originate in either house of the Legislature. 

Sec. 14. Every bill and concurrent resolution, except of adjournment, passed 
by the Legislature, shall he presented to the Governor before it becomes a law. 
If he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections 
to the house in which it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon 
their journal, and reconsider it. On such reconsideration, if two-thirds of the mem- 
bers elected agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent with the objections to the other 
house, by which it shall be reconsidered. If approved by two-thirds of the members 
elected to that house, it shall hecome a law. In such case the vote of both houses 
shall be determined by yeas and nays; and the names of the members voting for and 
against the bill shall be entered on the journals of each house respectively. If any 
bill be not returned by the Governor within ten days, Sundays excepted, after 
it has been presented to him, the same shall become a law, in like manner as if 
he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by their adjournment, prevent its return; 
in which case it shall not become a law. The Governor may approve, sign, and file 
in the office of the Secretary of State, within five days after the adjournment of the 
Legislature, any act passed during the last five days of the session; and the same 
shall become a law. 

Sec. 15. The compensation of the members of the Legislature shall be three, 
dollars per day for actual attendance, and when absent on account of sickness, 
hut the Legislature may allow extra compensation to the members from the terri- 
tory of the Upper Peninsula, not exceeding two dollars per day during the session. 
When convened in extra session, their compensation shall be three dollars a day for 
the first twenty days, and nothing thereafter; and they shall legislate on no other 
subjects than those expressly stated in the Governor's proclamation, or submitted 
to them by special message. They shall be entitled to ten cents and no more for 
every mile actually traveled, going to and returning from the place of meeting, on 
the usually traveled route; and for stationery and newspapers, not exceeding 
five dollars for each member during any session. Each member shall be entitled to 
one copy of the laws, journals, and documents of the Legislature of which he was a 
member; but shall not receive, at the expense of the State, hooks, newspapers, 
or other perquisites of office, not expressly authorized by this Constitution. 

Sec. 16. The Legislature may provide by law for the payment of postage on all 
mailable matter received by its members and officers during the sessions of the 
Legislature, but not on any sent or mailed by them. 

Sec. 17. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep- 
resentatives shall be entitled to the same per diem compensation and mileage 
as members of the Legislature, and no more. 

Sec. IS. No person elected a member of the Legislature shall receive any 
civil appointment within this State, or to the Senate of the United States, from 
the Governor, the Governor and Senate, from the Legislature, or any other State 
authority, during the term for which he is elected. All such appointments, and all 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 259 

votes given for any person so elected for any such office or appointment, shall be 
void. No member of the Legislature shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in 
any contract with the State, or any county thereof, authorized by any law passed 
during the time for which he is elected, nor for one year thereafter. 

Sec. 19. Every bill and joint resolution shall be read three times in each house, 
before the final passage thereof. No bill or joint resolution shall become a law with- 
out the concurrence of a majority of all the members elected to each house. On the 
final passage of all bills, tue vote shall be by yeas and nays, and entered on the 
journal. 

Sec. 20. No law shall embrace more than one object, which shall be expressed 
ill its title. No public act shall take effect or be in force until the expiration of 
ninety days from the end of the session at which the same is passed, unless the Leg- 
islature shall otherwise direct by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each 
house. 

Sec. 21. The Legislature shall not grant nor authorize extra compensation 
to any public officer, agent, or contractor, after the service has been rendered or the 
contract entered into. 

Sec. 22. The Legislature shall provide by law that the furnishing of fuel and 
stationery for the use of the State, the printing and binding the laws and journals, 
all blanks, paper, and printing for the executive departments, and all other printing 
ordered by the Legislature, shall be let by contract to the lowest bidder or bidders, 
who shall give adequate and satisfactory security for the performance thereof. 
The Legislature shall prescribe by law the manner in which the State printing shall 
be executed, and the accounts rendered therefor; and shall prohibit all charges for 
constructive labor. They shall not rescind nor alter such contract, nor release the 
person or persons taking the same, or his or their sureties, from the performance of 
any of the conditions of the contract. No member of the Legislature, nor officer 
of the State, shall be interested directly or indirectly in any such contract. 

Sec. 23. The Legislature shall not authorize, by private or special law, the sale 
or conveyance of any real estate belonging to any person; nor vacate nor alter any 
road laid out by commissioners of highways, or any street in any city or village, or 
in any recorded town plat. 

Sec. 24. The Legislatui'e may authorize the employment of a chaplain for the 
State Prison; but no money shall be appropriated for the payment of any religious 
services in either house of the Legislature. 

Sec. 25 No law shall be revised, altered, or amended, by reference to its title 
only; but the act revised, and the section or sections of the act altered or amended, 
shall be re-enacted and published at length. 

Sec. 26. Divorces shall not be granted by the Legislature. 

Sec. 27. The Legislature shall not authorize any lottery, nor permit the sale 
of lottery tickets. 

Sec. 28. No new bill shall be introduced into either house of the Legislature 
after the first fifty days of a session shall have expired. 

Sec. 29. In case of a contested election, the person only shall receive from 
the State per diem compensation and mileage, who is declared to be entitled to 
a seat by the house in which the contest takes place. 

Sec. 30. No collector, holder, nor disburser of public moneys shall have a seat in 
the Legislature, or be eligible to any office of trust or profit under this State, until he 
shall have accounted for and paid over, as provided by law, all sums for which 
he may be liable. 

Sec. 31. The Legislature shall not audit nor allow any private claim or account. 

Sec. 32. The Legislature, on the day of final adjournment, shall adjourn at 
twelve o'clock at noon. 

Sec. 33. The Legislature shall meet at the seat of government on the first Wed- 
nesday in January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and 
on the first Wednesday of January in every second year thereafter, and at no other 



260 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



place or time, unless as provided la the Constitution of the State, and shall adjourn 
without day at such time as the Legislature shall fix by concurrent resolution. 

Sec. 34. The election of Senators and Repiesentatives, pursuant to the pro- 
visions of this Constitution, shall be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday 
of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty -two, and on the 
Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November of every second year thereafter. 

Sec. 35. The Legislature shall not establish a State paper. Every newspaper in 
the State which shall publish all the general laws of any session within forty days of 
their passage, shall be entitled to receive a sum not exceeding fifteen dollars 
therefor. 

Sec. 36. The Legislature shall provide for the speedy publication of all statute 
laws of a public nature, and of such judicial decisions as it may deem expedient. 
All laws and judicial decisions shall be free for publication by any person. 

Sec. 37. The Legislature may declare the cases in which any office shall be 
deemed vacant, and also the manner of filling the vacancy, where no provision 
is made for that purpose in this Constitution. 

Sec. 38. The Legislature may confer upon organized townships, incorporated 
cities and villages, and upon the board of supervisors of the several counties, such 
powers of a local, legislative, and administrative character as they may deem 
proper. 

Sec. 39. The Legislature shall pass no law to prevent any person from worship- 
ing Almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience, or to compel any 
person to attend, erect, or support any place of religious worship , or to pay tithes, 
taxes, or other rates for the support of any minister of the gospel or teacher of 
religion. 

Sec. 40. No money shall be appropriated or drawn from the Treasury for 
the benefit of any religious sect or society, theological or religious seminary, nor 
shall property belonging to the State be appropriated for any such purposes. 

Sec. 41. The Legislature shall not diminish or enlarge the civil or political 
rights, privileges, and capacities of any person on account of his opinion or belie, f 
concerning matters of religion. 

Sec. 42. No law shall ever be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech 
or of the press; but every person may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments 
on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of such right. 

Sec. 43. The Legislature shall pass no bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law 
impairing the obligation of contracts. 

Sec. 44. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus remains, and shall not be 
suspended by the Legislature, except, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public 
safety require it. 

Sec. 45. The assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of 
the Legislature shall be requisite to every bill appropriating the public money 
or property for local or private purposes. 

Sec. 46. The Legislature may authorize a trial by a jury of a less number than 
twelve men. 

Sec. 47. The Legislature shall not pass any act authorizing the grant of license 
for the sale of ardent spirits or other intoxicating liquors.* 

Sec. 48. The style of the laws shall be, '• The people of the State of Michigan 

enact." 

ARTICLE V. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. The executive power is vested in a Governor, who shall hold his 
office for two years. A Lieutenant Governor shall be chosen for the same term. 
Sec. 2. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Gov- 

* Striken out by Legislature of 1875. Amendment approved by the people at 
the general election, 1876. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 261 



ernor, who has not been five years a citizen of the United States, and a resident 
of this State two years next preceding his election; nor shall any person be eligible 
to either office who has not attained the age of thirty years. • 

Sec. 3. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be elected at the times 
and places of choosing the members of the Legislature. The person having the 
highest number of votes for Governor or Lieutenant Governor shall be elected. In 
case two or more persons shall have au equal and the highest number of votes 
for Governor or Lieutenant Governor, the Legislature shall, by joint vote, choose 
one of such persons. 

Sec. 4. The Governor shall be Commander-in-Chief of the military and naval 
forces, and may call out such forces to execute the laws, to suppress insurrections, 
and to repel invasions. 

Sec. 5. He shall transact all necessary busiuess with officers of government, 
and may require information, in writing, from the officers of the executive depart- 
ment, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. 

Sec. 6. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. 

Sec. 7. He may convene the Legislature on extraordinary occasions. 

Sec. 8. He shall give to the Legislature, and, at the close of his official term, to 
the next Legislature, information by message of the condition of the State, and rec- 
ommend such measures to them as he shall deem expedient. 

Sec. 9. He may convene the Legislature at some other place, when the seat 
of government becomes dangerous from disease or a common enemy. 

Sec. 10. He shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as occur in 
the Senate or House of Representatives. 

Sec. 11. He may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons after convictions, 
for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions, and 
with such restrictions and limitations, as he may think proper, subject to regulations 
provided by law, relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction 
for treason, he may suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be 
reported to the Legislature at its next session, when the Legislature shall either 
pardon, or commute the sentence, direct the execution of the sentence, or grant 
a further reprieve. He shall communicate to the Legislature at each session infor- 
mation of each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, and the reasons 
therefor. 

Sec. 12. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his removal from office, 
death, inability, resignation, or absence from the State, the powers and duties of the 
office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor, for the residue of the term, 
or until the disability ceases. When the Governor shall be out of the State in 
time of war, at the head of a military force thereof, he shall continue Commander- 
in-Chief of all the military force of the State. 

Sec. 13. During a vacancy in the office of Governor, if the Lieutenant Governor 
die, resign, be impeached, displaced, be incapable of performing the duties of 
his office, or absent from the State, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall 
act as Governor, until the vacancy shall be filled, or the disability cease. 

Sec. 14. The Lieutenant Governor shall, by virtue of his office, be President of 
the Senate. In committee of the whole he may debate all questions; aud when there 
is an equal division, he shall give the casting vote. 

Sec. 15. No member of Congress, nor any person holding office under the 
United States, or this State, shall execute the office of Governor. 

Sec. 16. No person elected Governor or Lieutenant Governor shall be eligible 
to any office or appointment from the Legislature, or either house thereof, during 
the time for which he was elected. All votes for either of them, for any such office, 
shall be void. , 

Sec. 17. The Lieutenant [Governor] and President of the Senate pro tempore. 
when performing the duties of Governor, shall receive the same compensation 
as the Governor. 



262 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



Sec. 18. All official acts of the Governor, his approval of the laws excepted, 
shall be authenticated by the great seal of the State, which shall be kept by the 
Secretary of State. 

Seo. 19. All commissions issued to persons holding office under the provisions 
of this Constitution shall be in the name and by the authority of the people of the 
State of Michigan, sealed with the great seal of the State, signed by the Governor, 
and countersigned by the Secretary of State. 

ARTICLE VI. 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. The judicial power is vested in one Supreme Court, in circuit 
courts, in probate courts, and in justices of the peace. Municipal courts of civil and 
criminal jurisdiction may be established by the Legislature in cities. 

Sec. 2. For the term of six years, and thereafter, until the Legislature otherwise 
provide, the judges of the several circuit courts shall be Judges of the Supreme 
Court, four of whom shall constitute a quorum. A concurrence of three shall 
be necessary to a final decision. After six years the Legis'ature may provide by law 
for the organization of a Supreme Court, with the jurisdiction and powers pre- 
scribed in this Constitution, to consist of one Chief Justice and three Associate 
Justices, to be chosen by the electors of the State. Such Supreme Court, when 
so organized, shall not be changed or discontinued by the Legislature for eight 
years thereafter. The Judges thereof shall be so classified that but one of them 
shall ro out of office at the same time. Their term of office shall be eight years. 

Sec. 3. The Supreme Court shall have a general superintending control over all 
inferior courts, and shall have power to issue writs of error, habeas corpus, manda- 
mus, quo warranto, procedendo, and other original and remedial writs, and to hear 
and determine the same. In all other cases it shall have appellate jurisdiction only. 

Sec. 4. Four terms of the Supreme Court shall be held annually, at such times 
and places as may be designated by law. 

Sec. 5. The Supreme Court shall by general rules establish, modify, and 
amend the practice in such court and in the circuit courts, and simplify the same. 
The Legislature shall, as far as practicable, abolish distinctions between law and 
equity proceedings. The office of master in chancery is prohibited. 

Sec. 6. The State shall be divided into judicial circuits; in each of which 
the electors thereof shall elect one circuit judge, who shall hold his office for the 
term of six years, and until his successor is elected and qualified. The Legislature 
may provide for the election of more than one circuit judge in the judicial circuit 
in which the city of Detroit is or may be situated, and the circuit judge or judges 
of said circuit, in addition to the salary provided by this Constitution, shall receive 
from said county of Wayne such additional salary as may from time to time be 
fixed and determined by the board of supervisors of said county. 

Sec. 7. The Legislature may alter the limits of circuits, or increase the number 
of tne same. No alteration or increase shall have the effect to remove a judge from 
office. In every additional circuit established, the judge shall be elected by the 
electors of such circuit, and his term of office shall continue, as provided in this Con- 
stitution for judges of the circuit court. 

Sec. 8. The circuit courts shall have original jurisdiction in all matters, civil 
and criminal, not excepted in this Constitution, and not prohibited by law; and 
appellate jurisdiction from all inferior courts and tribunals, and a supervisory 
control of the same. They shall also have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, 
mandamus, injunction, quo warranto, certiorari, and other writs necessary to carry 
into effect cheir orders, judgments, and decrees, and give them a general control 
over inferior courts and tribunals within their respective jurisdictions. 

Sec. 9. Each of the judges of the circuit courts shall receive a salary, payable 
quarterly. They shall be ineligible to any other than a judicial office during the 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 263 



term for which they are elected, and for one year thereafter. All votes for any per- 
son elected such judge for any office other than judicial, given either hy the 
Legislature or the people, shall be void. 

Sec. 10. The Supreme Court may appoint a reporter of its decisions. The 
decisons of the Supreme Court shall be in writing, and signed by the judges con- 
curring therein. Any judge dissenting therefrom, shall give the reasons of such 
dissent in writing, under his signature. All such opinions shall be filed in the office 
of the clerk of the Supreme Court. The judges of the circuit court, within their 
respective jurisdictions, may fill vacancies in the office of county clerk and of pros- 
ecuting attorney ; but no Judge of the Supreme Court, or circuit court, shall exercise 
any other power of appointment to public office. 

Sec. 11. A circuit court shall be held at least twice in each year in every county 
organized for judicial purposes, and four times in each year in counties containing 
ten thousand inhabitants. Judges of the circuit court may hold courts for each 
other, and shall do so when required by law. 

Sec. 12. The clerk of each county organized for judicial purposes, shall be 
the clerk of the circuit court of such county. The Supreme Court shall have power 
to appoint a clerk for such Supreme Court. 

Sec. 13. In each of the counties organized for judicial purposes, there shall be a 
court of probate. The judge of such court shall be elected by the electors of the 
county in which he resides, and shall hold his office for four years, and until his 
successor is elected and qualified. The jurisdiction, powers, and duties of such 
courtshall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 14. When a vacancy occurs in the office of Judge of the Supreme, circuit, 
or probate court, it shall be filled by appointment of the Governor, which shall con- 
tinue until a successor is elected and qualified. When elected, such successor shall 
hold his office the residue of the unexpired term. 

Sec. 15. The Supreme Court, the circuit and probate courts of each county, 
shall be courts of record, and shall each have a common seal. 

Sec. 16. The Legislature may provide bylaw for the election of one or more 
persons in each organized county, who may be vested with judicial powers, 
not exceeding those of a judge of the circuit court at chambers. 

Sec. 17. There shall be not exceeding four justices of the peace in each organ- 
ized township. They shall be elected by the electors of the townships, and shall 
hold their offices for four years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. 
At the first election in any township, they shall be classified as shall be prescribed by 
law. A justice elected to fill a vacancy shall hold his office for the residue of the 
unexpired term. The Legislature may increase the number of justices in cities. 

Sec. 18. In civil cases, justices of the peace shall have exclusive jurisdiction to 
the amount of one hundred dollars, and concurrent jurisdiction to the amount 
of three hundred dollars, which may be increased to five hundred dollars, with such 
exceptions and restrictions as may be provided by law. They shall also have 
such criminal jurisdiction, and perform such duties, as shall be prescribed by the 
Legislature. 

sec. 19. Judges of the Supreme Court, circuit judges, and justices of the peace 
shall be conservators of the peace within their respective jurisdictions. 

Sec. 20. The first election of judges of the circuit courts shall be held on the 
first Monday in April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and every sixth 
year thereafter. Whenever an additional circuit is created, provision shall be made 
to hold the subsequent elections of such additional judges at the regular election 
herein provided. 

Sec. 21. The first election of judges of the probate courts shall be held on 
the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, one thousand eight hundred 
and fifty-two, and every fourth year thereafter. 

Sec. 22. Whenever a judge shall remove beyond the limits of the jurisdiction 
for which he was elected, or a justice of the peace from the township in which he 



264 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



was elected, or by a change in the boundaries of such township shall be placed with- 
out the same, they shall be deemed to have vacated their respective offices. 

Sec. 23. The Legislature may establish courts of conciliation, with such powers 
and duties as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 24. Any suitor in any court of this State shall have the right to prosecute 
or defend his suit, either in his own proper person, or by an attorney or agent of his 
choice. 

Sec. 25. In all prosecutions for libels, the truth may be given in evidence to the 
jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, 
and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall 
be acquitted. The jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact. 

Sec. 26. The person, houses, papers, and possessions of every person shall 
be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures. No warrant to search any 
place or to seize any person or things shall issue without describing them, nor without 
piobable cause, supported by oath or affirmation. 

Sec. 27. The right of trial by jury shall remain, but shall be deemed to be 
waived in all civil cases, unless demanded by one of the parties in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 28. In every criminal prosecution, the accused shall have the right to 
a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, which may consist of less than 
twelve men in all courts not of record; to be informed of the nature of the accusa- 
tion; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process 
for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and have the assistance of counsel for his 
defense. 

Sec. 29. No person, after acquittal upon the merits, shall be tried for the same 
offense. All persons shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, 
except for murder and treason, when the proof is evident or the presumption great. 

Sec. 30. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, 
or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall 
be convicted of treason, unless upon the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt 
act, or on confession in open court. 

Sec. 31. Excessive bail shall not be required; excessive fines shall not be 
imposed; cruel or unusual punishment shall not be inflicted; nor shall witnesses be 
unreasonably detained. 

Sec. 32. No person shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness 
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process 
of law. 

Sec. 33. No person shall be imprisoned for debt arising out of or founded on a 
contract, express or implied, except in cases of fraud or breach of trust, or of 
moneys collected by public officers, or in any professional employment. No person 
shall be imprisoned for a militia fine in time of peace. 

Sec. 34. No person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of 
his opinions on matters of religious belief. 

Sec. 35. The style of all process shall be: " In the name of the People of the 
State of Michigan." 

ARTICLE VII. 

ELECTIONS. 

Section 1. In all elections, every male citizen, every male inhabitant residing 
in the State on the twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and 
thirty-five; every male inhabitant residing in the State on the first day of January, 
one thousand eight hundred and fifty, who has declared his intention to become 
a citizen of the United States, pursuant to the laws thereof, six months preceding an 
election, or who has resided in the State two years and six months, and declared his 
intention as aforesaid, and every civilized male inhabitant of Indian descent, a 
native of the United States, and not a member of any tribe, shall be an elector 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 265 



and entitled to vote; but no citizen or inhabitant shall be an elector, or entitled 
to vote at any election, unless he shall be above the age of twenty-one years, and has 
resided in this State three months, and in the township or ward in which he offers to 
vote, ten days next preceding such election: Provided, That in time of war. insur- 
rection, or rebellion, no qualified elector in the actual military service of the United 
States, or of this State, in the army or navy thereof, shall be deprived of his vote by 
reason of his absence from tbe township, ward, or State in which he resides; and the 
Legislature shall have the power, and shall provide the manner in which, and 
the time and place at which, such absent electors may vote, and for the canvass and 
return of their votes to tbe township or ward election district in which they 
respectively reside, or otherwise. 

Sec. 2. All votes shall be given by ballot, except for such township officers 
as may be authorized by law to be otherwise chosen. 

Sec. 3. Every elector, in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the 
peace, shall be privileged from arrest during his attendance at election, and going to 
and returning from the same. 

Sec. 4. No elector shall be obliged to do military duty on the day of election, 
except in time of war or public danger; or attend court as a suitor or witness. 

Sec. 5. No elector shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence, by reason 
of his being employed in the service of the United States, or of this State; nor while 
engaged in the navigation of the waters of this State or of the United States, or of 
tbe high seas ; nor while a student of any seminary of learning ; nor while kept at 
any alms-house or other asylum at public expense ; nor while confined in any pub- 
lic prison. 

Sec. 6. Laws may be passed to preserve the purity of elections, and guard 
against abuses of the elective franchise. 

Sec. 7. No soldier, seaman, nor marine in the army or navy of the United 
States, shall be deemed a resident of this State, in consequence of being stationed 
in any military or naval place within the same. 

Sec. 8. Any inhabitant who may hereafter be engaged in a duel, either as prin- 
cipal, or accessory before the fact, shall be disqualified from holding any office 
under the Constitution and laws of this State, and shall not be permitted to vote at 
any election. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

STATE OFFICERS. 

Section 1. There shall be elected at each general biennial election, a Secretary 
of State, a Superintendent of Public Instruction, a State Treasurer, a Commissioner 
of the Land Office, an Auditor General,- and an Attorney General, for the term of 
two years. They shall keep their offices at the seat of Government, and shall per- 
form such duties as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 2. Their term of office shall commence on the first day of January, one 
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and of every second year thereafter. 

Sec. 3. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in any of the State offices, the Gov- 
ernor shall fill the same by appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, if in session. 

Sec. 4. The Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and Commissioner of the State 
Land Office, shall constitute a Board of State Auditors, to examine and adjust all 
claims against the State, not otherwise provided for by general law. They shall 
constitute a Board of State Canvassers, to determine the result of all elections for 
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and State officers, and of such other officers as 
shall by law be referred to them. 

Sec. 5. In case two or more persons have an equal and the highest number of 
votes for any office, as canvassed by the Board of State Canvassers, the Legislature 
in joint convention shall choose one of said persons to fill such office. When the 
12 



%66 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



determination of the Board of State Canvassers is contested, the Legislature in joint 
convention shall decide which person is elected. 

ARTICLE IX. 

SALARIES. 

Section 1. The Governor shall receive an annual salary of one thousand dol- 
lars ; the Judges of the Circuit Court shall each receive an annual salary of two 
thousand five hundred dollars ; the State Treasurer shall receive an annual salary 
of one thousand dollars ; the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall receive an 
aunual salary of one thousand dollars ; the Secretary of State shall receive an annual 
salary of eight hundred dollars; the Commissioner of the Land Office shall receive 
an annual salary of eight hundred dollars ; the Attorney General shall receive an 
annual salary of eight hundred dollars. They shall receive no fees or perquisites 
whatever far the performance of any duties connected with their offices. It shall 
not be competent for the Legislature to increase the salaries herein provided.* 

ARTICLE X. 

COUNTIES. 

Section 1. Each organized county shall be a body corporate, with such powers 
and immunities as shall be establisned bylaw. All suits and proceedings by or 
against a county shall be in the name thereof. 

Sec. 2. No organized county shall ever be reduced by the organization of new 
counties to less than sixteen townships, as surveyed by the United States, unless in 
pursuance of law a majority of electors residing in each county to be affected 
thereby shall so decide. The Legislature may organize a city into a separate county 
when it has attained a population of twenty thousand inhabitants, without reference 
to geographical extent, when a majority of the electors of a county in which such 
city may be situated, voting thereon, shall be in favor of a separate organi- 
zation. 

Sec. 3. In each organized county there shall be a sheriff, a county clerk, a 
county treasurer, a register of deeds and a prosecuting attorney, chosen by the 
electors thereof, once in two years, and as often as vacancies shall happen, whose 
duties and powers shall be prescribed by law. The board of supervisors in any 
county may unite the offices of county clerk and register of deeds in one office, or 
disconnect the same. 

Sec. 4. The sheriff, county clerk, county treasurer, judge of probate and reg- 
ister of deeds shall hold their offices at the county seat. 

Sec. 5. The sheriff shall hold no other office, and shall be incapable of holding 
the office of sheriff longer than four in any period of six years. He may be required 
by law to renew his security from time to time, and in default of giving such secu- 
rity his office shall be deemed vacant. The county shall never be responsible for 
his acts. 

Sec. 6. A board of supervisors, consisting of one from each organized town- 
ship, shall be established in each county, with such powers as shall be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 7. Cities shall have such representation in the board of supervisors of 
the counties in which they are situated, as the Legislature may direct. 

Sec. 8. No county seat once established shall be removed until the place to 
which it is proposed to be removed shall be designated by two-thirds of the board 
of supervisors of the county, and a majority of the electors voting thereon shall 

*This article amended in 1882. Formerly the circuit judges received fifteen 
hundred dollars per annum. The amendment omitted all reference to the salary 
of the Auditor General, which has since been fixed by the Legislature at two 
thousand dollars per annum. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 267 



have voted in favor of tbe proposed location, in sncli manner as shall be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 9. Tbe board of supervisors of any county may borrow or raise by tax one 
thousand dollars, for constructing or repairing public buildings, highways, or 
bridges ; but no greater sum shall be borrowed or raised by tax for such purpose 
in anyone year, unless authorized by a majority of the electors of such county 
voting thereon. 

Sec. 10. The board of supervisors, or in the county of Wayne the board of 
county auditors, shall have the exclusive power to prescribe and fix the compensa- 
tion for all services rendered for, and to adjust all claims against their respective 
counties ; and the sum so fixed or defined shall be subject to no appeal. 

Sec. 11. The board of supervisors of each organized county may provide for 
laying out highways, constructing bridges, and organizing townships, under such 
restrictions and limitations as shall be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE XL 

TOWNSHIPS. 

Section 1. There shall be elected annually, on the first Monday of April, in 
each organized township, one supervisor, one township clerk, who shall be ex-officio 
school inspector, one commissioner of highways, one township treasurer, one school 
inspector, not exceeding four constables, and one overseer of highways for each 
highway district, whose powers and duties shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 2. Each orgauized township shall be a body corporate, with such powers 
and immunities as shall be prescribed by law. All suits and proceedings by or 
against a township shall be in the name thereof. 

ARTICLE XII. 

IMPEACHMENTS AND REMOVALS PROM OFFICE. 

Section 1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeach- 
ing civil officers for corrupt conduct in office, or for crimes and misdemeanors ; 
but a majority of the members elected shall be necessary to direct an impeach- 
ment. 

Sec. 2. Every impeachment shall be tried by the Senate. When the Governor 
or Lieutenant Governor is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside. 
When an impeachment is directed, the Senate shall take an oath or affirmation truly 
and impartially to try and determine the same according to the evidence. No per- 
son shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members 
elected. Judgment, in case of impeachment, shall not extend further than removal 
from office ; but the party convicted shall be liable to punishment according 
to law. 

Sec. 3. When an impeachment is directed, the House of Representatives shall 
elect from their own body three members, whose duty it shall be to prosecute such 
impeachment. No impeachment shall be tried until the final adjournment of the 
Legislature, when the Senate shall proceed to try the same. 

Sec. 4. No judicial officer shall exercise his office, after an impeachment is 
directed, until he is acquitted. 

Sec. 5. The Governor may make a provisional appointment to a vacancy occa- 
sioned by the suspension of an officer, until he shall be acquitted, or until after the 
election and qualification of a successor. 

Sec. 6. For reasonable cause, which shall not be sufficient ground for the 
impeachment of a judge, the Governor shall remove him on a concurrent resolution 
of two-thirds of the members elected to each House of the Legislature ; but the 
cause for which such removal is required shall be stated at length in such reso- 
lution. 



268 Civil government. 



Seo. 7. The Legislature shall provide by law for the removal of any officer 
elected by a county, township, or school district, in such manner and for such cause 
as to them shall seem just and proper. 

Sec. 8. The Governor shall have power and it shall be his duty, except at such 
times as the Legislature may be in session, to examine into the condition and 
administration of any public office, and the acts of any public officer, elective or 
appointed, to remove from office for gross neglect of duty, or for corrupt conduct 
in office, or any other misfeasance or malfeasance therein, either of the following 
State officers, to-wit : The Attorney General, State Treasurer, Commissioner of the 
Land Office, Secretary of State, Auditor General, Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, or members of the State Board of Education, or any other officer of the State, 
except legislature [legislative] and judicial, elective or appointed, and to appoint a 
successor for the remainder of their unexpired term of office, and report the causes 
of such removal to the Legislature at its next session. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

EDUCATION. 

Section 1. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall have the general 
supervision of public instruction, and his duties shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 2. The proceeds of the sales of all lands that have been or hereafter may 
be granted by the United States to the State, for educational purposes, and the pro- 
ceeds of all lands or other property given by individuals, or appropriated by the 
State for like purposes, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest and 
income of which, together with the rents of all such lands as may remain unsold, 
shall De inviolably appropriated and annually applied to the specific objects of the 
original gift, grant, or appropriation. 

Sec. 3. All lands, the titles to which shall fail from a defect of heirs, shall 
escheat to the State ; and the interest on the clear proceeds from the sales thereof 
shall be appropriated exclusively to the support of primary schools. 

Sec. 4. The Legislature shall, within five years from the adoption of this Con- 
stitution, provide for and establish a system of primary schools, whereby a school 
shall be kept without charge for tuition, at least three months in each year, in every 
school district in the State; and all instruction in said schools shall be conducted in 
the English language. 

Sec. 5. A school shall be maintained in each school district at least three months 
in each year. Any school district neglecting to maintain such school, shall be 
deprived for the ensuing year of its proportion of the income of the Primary School 
Fund, and of all funds arising from taxes for the support of schools. 

Sec. 6. There shall be elected in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-three, at 
the time of the election of a Justice of the Supreme Court, eight Regents of the Uni- 
versity, two of whom shall hold their office for two years, two for tour years, two 
for six years and two for eight years. They shall enter upon the duties of their 
office on the first of January next succeedi ng their election. At every regular elec- 
tion of a Justice of the Supreme Court thereafter, there shall be elected two Re- 
gents, whose term of office shall be eight years. When a vacancy shall occur in the 
office of Regent, it shall be filled by appointment of the Governor. The Regents 
thus elected shall constitute the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. 

Sec. 7. The Regents of the University, and their successors in office, shall con- 
tinue to constitute the body corporate known by the name and title of "The Re- 
gents of the University of Michigan." 

Sec. 8. The Regents of the University shall, at their first annual meeting, or as 
soon thereafter as maybe, elect a President of the University, who shall be ex- officio 
a member of their Board, with the privilege of speaking, but not of voting. He 
shall preside at the meetings of the Regents, and be the principal executive officer 
of the University. The Board of Regents shall have the general supervision of the 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 269 



University, and the direction and control of all expenditures from the University 
Interest Fund. 

Sec. 9. There shall be elected at the general election in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty-two, three members of a State Board of Education, one for 
two years, one for four years, and one for six years ; and at each succeeding bien- 
nial election there shall be elected one member of such Board, who shall hold his 
office for six years. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be ex- officio 
a member and Secretary of such Board. The Board shall have the general super- 
vision of the State Normal School, and their duties shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 10. Institutions for the benefit of those inhabitants who are deaf, dumb, 
blind, or insane, shall always be fostered and supported. 

Sec. 11. The Legislature shall encourage the promotion of intellectual, scien- 
tific, and agricultural improvement ; and shall, as soon as practicable, provide for 
the establishment of an Agricultural School. The Legislature may appropriate the 
twenty-two sections of salt-spring lands now unappropriated, or the money arising 
from the sale of the same, where such lands have been already sold, and any land 
which may hereafter be granted or appropriated for such purpose, for the support 
and maintenance of such school, and may make the same a branch or the Uni- 
versity, for instruction in agriculture and the natural sciences connected therewith 
and place the same uuder the supervision of the Regents of the University. 

Sec. 12. The Legislature shall also provide for the establishment of at least one 
library in each township ; and all fines assessed and collected in the several coun- 
ties and townships for any breach of the penal laws, shall be exclusively applied to 
the support of such libraries, unless otherwise ordered by the township board of 
any township, or the board of education of any city: Pro rided, that in no case 
shall such fines be used for other than library or school purposes. 

ARTICLE XIV. 
FINANCE AND TAXATION. 

Section 1. All specific State taxes, except those received from the mining com- 
panies of the Upper Peninsula, shall be applied in paying the interest upon the Pri- 
mary School. University, and other educational funds, and the interest and principal 
of the State debt, in the order herein recited, until the extinguishment of the State 
debt, other than the amounts due to educational funds, when such specific taxes 
shall be added to and constitute apart of the Primary School Interest Fund. The 
Legislature shall provide for an annual tax, sufficient, with other resources, to pay 
the estimated expenses of the State government, the interest of the State debt, and 
such deficiency as may occur in the resources. 

Sec. 2. The Legislature shall provide by law a sinking fund of at least twenty 
thousand dollars a year, to commence in eighteen hundred and fifty-two, with com- 
pound interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, and an annual increase of at 
least five per cent, to be applied solely to the payment and extinguishment of the 
principal of the State debt, other than the amounts due to educational funds, and 
shall be continued until the extinguishment thereof. The unfunded debt shall not 
be funded or redeemed at a value exceeding that established bylaw in one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-eight. 

Sec. 3. The State may contract debts to meet deficits in revenue. Such debts 
shall not in the aggregate at any one time exceed fifty thousand dollars. The 
moneys .so raised shall be applied to the purposes for which they were obtained, or 
to the payment of the debts so contracted. 

Sec. 4. The State may contract debts to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, 
or defend the State in time of war. The money arising from the contracting of such 
debts shall be applied to the purposes for which it was raised, or to repay such 
debts. 

Sec. 5. No money shall be paid out of the Treasury, except in pursuance of 
appropriations made by law. 



270 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 



Sec. 6. The credit of the State shall not he granted to, or in aid of, any person, 
association, or corporation. 

Sec. 7. No scrip, certificate, or other evidence of State indebtedness shall be 
issued, except for the redemption of stock previously issued, or for such debts as are 
expressly authorized in this Constitution. 

Sec. 8. The State shall not subscribe to, or be interested in, the stock of any 
company, association, or corporation. 

Sec. 9. The State shall not be a party to, or interested In, any work of internal 
improvement, nor engaged in carrying on any such work, except in the expenditure 
of grants to the State of land or other property. 

Sec. 10. The State may continue to collect all specific taxes accruing to the 
Treasury under existing laws. The Legislature may provide for the collection of 
specific taxes from banking, railroad, plank road, and other corporations here- 
after created. 

Sec. 11. The Legislature shall provide an uniform rule of taxation, except on 
property paying specific taxes, and taxes shall be levied on such property as shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 12. All assessments hereafter authorized shall be on property at its cash 
value. 

Sec. 13. The Legislature shall provide for an equalization by a State Board, in 
the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and every fifth year thereafter, 
of assessments on all taxable property, except that paying specific taxes. 

Sec. 14. Every law which imposes, continues, or revives a tax, shall distinctly 
state the tax, and the object to which it is to be applied ; and it shall not be suffi- 
cient to refer to any other law to fix such tax or object. 

ARTICLE XV. 

CORPORATIONS. 

Section 1. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not 
be created by special act, except for municipal purposes. All laws passed pursuant 
to this section may be amended, altered, or repealed. But the Legislature may, by a 
vote "f two-thirds of the members elected to each House, create a single bank, with 
branches. 

Sec. 2. No general banking law shall have effect until the same shall, after 
its passage, be submitted to a vote of the electors of the State at a general election, 
and be approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon at such election. 

Sec. 3. The officers and stockholders of every corporation or association for 
banking purposes, issuing bank notes or paper credits, to circulate as money, shall 
be individually liable for all debts contracted during the term of their being officers 
or stockholders of such corporation or association, equally and ratably to the extent 
of their respective shares of stock in any such corporation or association. 

Sec. 4. For all banks organized under general laws, the Legislature shall 
provide for the registry of all bills or notes issued or put in circulation as money, 
and shall require security to the full amount of notes and bills so registered, in 
State or United States stocks, bearing interest, which shall be deposited with the 
State Treasurer for the redemption of such bills or notes, in specie. 

Sec. 5. In case of the insolvency of any bank or banking association, the bill- 
holders thereof shall be entitled to preference in payment over all other creditors of 
such bank or association. 

Sec. 6. The Legislature shall pass no law authorizing or sanctioning the sus- 
pension of specie payments by any person, association, or co poration. 

Sec. 7. The stockholders of all corporations and joint stock associations shall 
be individually liable for all labor performed for such corporations or associations. 

Sec. 8. The Legislature snail pass no law altering or amending any act of incor- 
poration heretofore granted, without the assent of two-thirds of the members 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 271 



elected to each house; nor shall any such act he renewed or extended. This 
restriction shall not apply to municipal corporations. 

Sec. 9. The property of no person shall be taken by any corporation for public 
use. without compensation being first made or secured, in such manner as may 
be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 10. No corporation, except for municipal purposes, or for the construction 
of railroads, plank roads, and canals, shall be created for a longer time than thirty 
years. 

Sec. 11. The term "corporation," as used in the preceding sections of this 
article, shall be construed to include all associations and joint stock companies hav- 
ing any of the powers or privileges of corporations, not possessed by individuals or 
partnerships. All corporations shall have the right to sue, and be subject to be sued 
in all courts, in like cases as natural persons. 

Sec. 12. No corporation shall hold any real estate hereafter acquired, for a 
longer period than ten years, except such real estate as shall be actually occupied by 
such corporation in the exercise of its franchises. 

Sec. 13. The Legislature shall provide for the incorporation and organization 
of cities and villages, and shall restrict their powers of taxation, borrowing money, 
contracting debts and loaning their credit. 

Sec. 14. Judicial officers of cities and villages shall be elected, and all officers 
shall be elected or appointed, at such time and in such manner as the Legislature 
may direct. 

Sec. 15. Private property shall not be taken for public improvements in cities 
and villages without the consent of the owner, unless the compensation therefor 
shall first be determined by a jury of freeholders, and actually paid or secured 
in the manner provided by law. 

Sec. 16. Previous notice of any application for an alteration of the charter 
of any corporation shall be given in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE XVI. 

EXEMPTIONS. 

Section 1. The personal property of every resident of this State, to consist 
of such property only as shall be designated by law, shall be exempted to the amount 
of not less than five hundred dollars, from sale on execution or other final process of 
any court, issued for the collection of any debt contracted after the adoption of this 
Constitution. 

Sec. 2. Every homestead of not exceeding forty acres of land, and the dwelling- 
house thereon, and the appurtenauces to be selected by the owner thereof, and not 
included in any town plat, city, or village; or instead thereof, at the option of the 
owner, any lot in any city, village, or recorded town plat, or such parts of lots as 
shall be equal thereto, and the dwelling-house thereon, and its appurtenances, 
owned and occupied by any resident of the State, not exceeding in value fifteen 
hundred dollars, shall be exempt from forced sale on execution or any other final 
process from a court, for any debt contracted after the adoption of this Constitution. 
Such exemptions shall not extend to any mortgage thereon, lawfully obtained; but 
such mortgage or other alienation of such land by the owner thereof, if a married 
man, shall not be valid without the signature of the wife to the same. 

Sec. 3. The homestead of a family, after the death of the owner thereof, shall 
be exempt from the payment of his debts contracted after the adoption of this Con- 
stitution, in all cases, during the minority of his children. 

Sec. 4. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow but no children 
the same shall be exempt, and the rents and profits thereof shall accrue to her 
benefit during the time of her widowhood, unless she be the owner of a homestead 
in her own right. 

Sec. 5. The real and personal estate of every female, acquired before mar- 



272 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

riage. and all property to which she may afterwards become entitled by gift, grant, 
inheritance, or devise, shall be and remain the estate and property of such female', 
and shall not be liable for the debts, obligations, or engagements of her husband] 
and may be devised or bequeathed by her as if she were unmarried. 

ARTICLE XVII. 
MILITIA. 

Section 1. The militia shall be composed of all able-bodied male citizens 
between the age of eighteen and forty-five years, except such as are exempt by the 
laws of the United States or of this State; but all such citizens, of any religious 
denomination whatever, who, from scruples of conscience, may be averse to bearing 
arms, shall be excused therefrom, upon such conditions as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 2. The Legislature shall provide by law for organizing, equipping, and dis- 
ciplining the militia, in such manner as they shall deem expedient, not incompatible 
with the laws of the United States. 

Sec. 3. Officers of the militia shall be elected or appointed, and be commis- 
sioned in such manner as may be provided by law. 

ARTICLE XVIII. 

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

Section 1. Members of the Legislature, and all officers, executive and judicial, 
except such officers as may by law be exempted, shall, before they enter on the 
duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirma- 
tion: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of 
the United States and the Constitution of this State, and that I will faithfully dis- 
charge the duties of the office of according to the best of my ability." 

And no other oath, declaration, or test shall be required as a qualification for 
any office or public trust. 

Sec. 2. When private property is taken for the use or benefit of the public 
the necessity for using such property, and the just compensation to be made there- 
for, except when to be made by the State, shall be ascertained by a jury of twelve 
freeholders, residing in the vicinity of such property, or by not less than three com- 
missioners, appointed by a court of record, as shall be prescribed by law; 

Provided, The foregoing provision shall in no case be construed to apply to 
the action of commissioners of highways in the official discharge of their duty 
as highway commissioners. 

Sec. 3. No mechanical trade shall hereafter be taught to convicts in the State 
Prison of this State, except the manufacture of those articles of which the chief sup- 
ply for home consumption is imported from other states or countries. 

Sec. 4. No navigable stream in this State shall be either abridged or dammed 
without authority from the board of supervisors of the proper county, under the 
provisions of law. No such law shall prejudice the right of individuals to the 
free navigation of such streams, or preclude the State from the further improve- 
ment of the navigation of such streams. 

Sec. 5. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public 
moneys shall be attached to and published with the laws at every regular session of 
the Legislature. 

Sec. 6. The laws, public records, and the written judicial and legislative pro- 
ceedings of the State, shall be conducted, promulgated, and preserved in the English 
language. 

Sec. 7. Every person has a right to bear arms for the defense of himself and 
the State. 

Sec. 8. The military shall, in all cases and at all times, be in strict subordina- 
tion to the civil power. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 273 

Sec. 9. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the 
consent of the owner or occupant, nor in time of war except in a manner pre- 
scribed by law. 

Sec. 10. The people have the right peaceably to assemble together to consult 
for the common good, to instruct their Representatives, and to petition the Legis- 
lature for redress of grievances. 

Sec. 11. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment 
of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this State. 

Sec. 12. No lease or grant hereafter, of agricultural lands, for a longer period 
than twelve years, reserving any rent or service of any kind, shall be valid. 

Sec. 13. Aliens who are, or may hereafter become, bona fide residents of this 
State, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and 
inheritance of property as native-born citizens. 

Sec. 14. The property of no person shall be taken for public use, without just 
compensation therefor. Private roads may be opened in the manner to be pre- 
scribed by law; but in every case the necessities of the road and the amount of all 
damages to be sustained by the opening thereof, shall be first determined by a jury 
of freeholders; and such amount, together with the expenses of proceedings, shall 
be paid by the person or persons to be benefited. 

Sec. 15. No general revision of the laws shall hereafter be made. "When a 
reprint therefore becomes necessaiy, the Legislature, in joint convention, shall ap- 
point a suitable person to collect together such acts and parts of acts as are in force 
and, without alteration, arrange them under appropriate heads and titles. The laws 
so arranged shall be submitted to two commissioners appointed by the Governor, 
for examination, and if certified by them to be a correct compilation of all general 
laws in force, shall be printed in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE XIX. 
UPPER PENINSULA. 

Section 1. The counties of Mackinac, Chippewa, Delta, Marquette, School- 
craft, Houghton, and Ontonagon, and the islands and territory thereto attached, the 
islands of Lake Superior, Huron, and Michigan, and the Green Bay, and the Straits 
of Mackinac and the River Ste. Marie, shall constitute a separate judicial district, 
and be entitled to a district judge and district attorney. 

Sec. 2. The district judge shall be elected by the electors of such district, and 
shall perform the same duties and possess the same powers as a circuit judge in his 
circuit, and shall hold his office for the same period. 

Sec. 3. The district attorney shall be elected every two years by the electors of 
the district, shall perform the duties of prosecuting attorney throughout the entire 
district, and may issue warrants for the arrest of offenders in case of felony, to be 
proceeded with as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 4. Such judicial district shall be entitled at all times to at least one Sena- 
tor, and, until entitled to more by its population, it shall have three members of the 
House of Representatives, to be apportioned among the several counties by the 
Legislature. 

Sec. 5. The Legislature may provide for the payment of the district judge a 
salary not exceeding one thousand dollars a year, and of the district attorney not 
exceeding seven hundred dollars a year; and may allow extra compensation to the 
members of the Legislature from such territory, not exceeding two dollars a day 
during any session.* 

Sec. 6. That elections for all district or county officers, State Senators, or Rep- 
resentatives, within the boundaries defined in this article, shall take place on the 

* Office of district judge abolished January 1, 1864, and of district attorney, 
March 5, 1865. 



274 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November in the respective years in which 
they may be required ; the county canvass shall be held on the first Monday there- 
after, and the district canvass on the third Monday of said November. 

Seo. 7. One-half of the taxes received into the Treasury from mining corpora- 
tions in the Upper Peninsula, paying an annual State tax of one per cent., shall be 
paid to the treasurers of the counties from which it is received, to be applied for 
township and county purposes, as provided by law. The Legislature shall have 
power, after the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty -five, to reduce the 
amount to be refunded. 

Sec. 8. The Legislature may change the location of the State Prison from Jack- 
son to the Upper Peninsula. 

Sec. 9. The charters of the several mining corporations may be modified by 
the Legislature, in regard to the term limited for subscribing to stock, and in rela- 
tion to the quantity of land which a corporation shall hold; but the capital shall 
not be increased, nor the time for the existence of charters extended. No such cor- 
poration shall be permitted to purchase or hold any real estate, except such as shall 
be necessary for the exercise of its corporate franchises. 

ARTICLE XIX.-A. 
RAILROADS. 

Section 1. The Legislature may, from time to time, pass laws establishing 
reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and 
freight on different railroads in this State, and shall prohibit running contracts 
between such railroad companies whereby discrimination is made in favor of either 
of such companies as against other companies owning connecting or intersecting 
lines of railroad. 

Sec. 2. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, property, or fran- 
chises with any other railroad corporation owning a parallel or competing line; and 
in no case shall any consolidation take place except upon public notice given of at 
least sixty days to all stockholders, in such manner as shall be provided by law. 

ARTICLE XX. 
AMENDMENTS AND REVISIONS OP THE CONSTITUTION. 

Section 1. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be pro- 
posed in the Senate or House of Representatives. If the same shall be agreed to by 
two-thirds of the members elected to each house, such amendment or amendments 
shall be entered on their journals respectively, with the yeas and nays taken 
thereon ; and the same shall be submitted to the electors at the next spring or 
autumn election thereafter, as tne Legislature shall direct, and if a majority of 
electors qualified to vote for members of the Legislature, voting thereon, shall 
ratify and approve such amendment or amendments, the same shall become part 
of the Constitution. 

Sec. 2. At the general election to be held in the year one thousand eight hun- 
dred and sixty-six, and in each sixteenth year thereafter, and also at such other 
times as the Legislature may by law provide, the question of the general revision of 
the Constitution shall be submitted to the electors qualified to vote for members of 
the Legislature ; and in case a majority of the electors so qualified, voting at such 
election, sball decide in favor of a convention for such purpose, the Legislature, at 
the next session, shall provide by law for the election of such delegates to such con- 
vention. All the amendments shall take effect at the commencement of the year 
after their adoption. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[Went into operation on the first Wednesday in March, 1789.] 

PREAMBLE. 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, 

establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, 

promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 

our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 

America. 

ARTICLE I. 

OP THE LEGISLATIVE POWER. 

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress 
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

OP THE HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. 

Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen 
every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State 
shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of 
the State Legislature. 

No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of 
twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States 
which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, 
which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including 
those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- 
fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three 
years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every 
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The 
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each 
State shall have at least one Representative; and, until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts 
eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York 
six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia 
ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive 
authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and 
shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

OP THE SENATE. 

Sec. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from 
each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senaior shall 
have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, 
they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Sen- 
ators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the 
second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expi- 
ration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if 
vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature 
of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the 
next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 



276 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty 
years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but 
shall have no vote, unless they shall be equally divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and shall have a President pro tempore, 
in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for 
that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United 
States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted 
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal 
from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit, 
under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and 
subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law. 

MANNER OP ELECTING MEMBERS. 

Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and 
Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but 
the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to 
the places of choosing Senators. 

CONGRESS TO ASSEMBLE ANNUALLY. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall 
be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. 

POWERS. 

Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications 
of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do busi- 
ness; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized 
to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such 
penalties, as each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for 
disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and f romtimeto time publish 
the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment, require secrecy; and the 
yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall, at the desire of 
one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the 
other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which 
the two houses shall be sitting. 

COMPENSATION, ETC., OP MEMBERS. 

Sec. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their 
services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. 
They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in 
going to and returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house, 
they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be 
appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall 
have been ereated, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during 
such time; and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a 
member of either house during his continuance in office. 

MANNER OP PASSING BILLS, ETC. 

Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representa- 
tives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall hive passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, 
shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States; 
if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, tQ 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 277 

that house In which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large 
on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two- 
thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall he sent, together with the 
objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases 
the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days 
(Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the sameshall.be a 
law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment 
prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment), 
shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall 
take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re- 
passed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the 
rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

POWER OP CONGRESS. 

Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts 
and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general wel- 
fare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States; 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and 
with the Indian tribes; 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject 
of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the stan- 
dard of weights and measures; 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin 
of the United States; 

To establish post-offices and post-roads; 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times 
to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- 
coveries; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and 
offenses against the law of nations: 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning 
captures on land and water; 

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be 
for a longer term than two years; 

To provide and maintain a navy; 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress 
insurrections and repel invasions; 

To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for governing 
such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving 
to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of train- 
ing the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not 
exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the accept- 
ance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to 
exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of 
the State in which the same shall be. for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, 
dockyards and other needful buildings; and 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execu- 
tion the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the 
government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 



278 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

LIMITATION OP THE POWERS OP CONGRESS. 

Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now 
existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior 
to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed 
on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in 
cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census 
or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the 
ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one 
State, be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropria- 
tions made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expendi- 
tures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no person holding 
any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
accept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any 
king, prince or foreign State. 

LIMITATION OP THE POWERS OP THE INDIVIDUAL STATES. 

Sec. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation; grant 
letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing 
but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder. 
ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts or grant any title of 
nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on 
imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its 
inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on 
imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all 
such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. 

No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep 
troops, or ships of war, in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with 
another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, 
or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

EXECUTIVE power. 

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United 

States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and 

together with the "Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows: 

MANNER OP ELECTING. 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, 
a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to 
which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative. 
or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be 
appointed an elector. 

(The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for two per- 
sons, of whom one at least shall not bean inhabitant of the same State as them- 
selves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number 
of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the 
seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted^ The per- 
son having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if suclrnumber be 
a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than 
one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 279 

Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and 
if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House 
shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes 
shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of 
the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every 
case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of 
votes of the electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two 
or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the 
Vice-Presdent.*) 

TIME OF CHOOSING ELECTORS. 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on 
which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the 
United States. 

WHO ELIGIBLE. 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the 
time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; 
neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained the 
age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 

WHEN THE PRESIDENT'S POWER DEVOLVES ON THE VICE-PRESIDENT. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation or 
inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve 
on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of 
removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, 
declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accor- 
dingly until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

PRESIDENT'S COMPENSATION. 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation 
which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he 
shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emol- 
ument from the United States, or any of them. 

OATH. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or 
affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the 
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

POWERS AND DUTIES. 

Sec. 2. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy of 
the United States, and of the militia of the several States when called into the actual 
service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the princi- 
pal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and 
pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make 
treaties provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nomi- 
nate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassa- 
dors, other public ministers and consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other 
officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided 
for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the 
appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, 
in the Courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during 
the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of 
their next session. 

* Altered by the 12th Amendment. See page 283. 



280 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Sec. 3. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the 
state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall 
judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both 
houses or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect 
to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think 
proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care 
that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the 
United States. 

OFFICERS REMOVED. 

Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, 
shall be removed from office, on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

OF THE JUDICIARY. 

Section 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one 
Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time 
ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and inferior Courts, shall 
hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in 
office. 

Sec. 2. (The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising 
under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other 
public ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; 
to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies 
between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between 
citizens of different States ; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under 
grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign 
States, citizens or subjects.*) 

JURISDICTION OF SUPREME COURT. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those 
In which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdic- 
tion. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appel- 
late jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such 
regulations as the Congress shall make. 

OF TRIALS FOR CRIMES. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and 
such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been commit- 
ted; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or 
places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

OF TREASON. 

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying wai 
against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses 
to the same overt act, or on confession in open Court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no 
attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during 
the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

STATE ACTS. 

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, 
records and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, by 
general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings 
shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

* Altered by the 1 1th Amendment. See page 283. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 281 

PRIVILEGES OF CITIZENS. 

Sec. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immuni- 
ties of citizens in the several States. 

A person charged in any State with treason, felony or other crime, who shall flee 
from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive 
authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the 
State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

RUNAWAYS TO BE DELIVERED UP. 

No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping 
into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged 
from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom 
such service or labor may be due. 

NEW STATES. 

Sec. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no 
new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor 
any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, with- 
out the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. 

TERRITORIAL AND OTHER PROPERTV. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful rules and 
regulations respecting, the territory, or other property belonging to the United 
States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any 
claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republi - 
can form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and, on 
application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature can not be 
convened}, against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

AMENDMENTS. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall 
propose amendments to this Constitution ; or, on the application of the Legislatures 
of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing amend- 
ments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this 
Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
States, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of 
ratification may be proposed by Congress; provided, that no amendment which may 
be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any man- 
ner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth Section of the first Article; and 
that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

DEBTS. 

All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this 
Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as 
under the Confederation. 

SUPREME LAW OP THE LAND. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pur- 
suance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority 
of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the Judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any State to 
the contrary notwithstanding. 

OATH.— NO RELIGIOUS TEST. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the 
several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United 
States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support 
this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to 
any office, cr public trust, under the United States. 



282 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratifications of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the estab- 
lishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seven- 
teenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. 
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
President, and Deputy from Virginia. 

New Hampshire— John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. Massachusetts— Nathaniel 
Gorham, Rufus King. Connecticut— William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. 
New York— Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey— William Livingston, David Brear- 
ley, William Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania — Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Jared Inger- 
soll , James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. Delaware— George Read, Gunning Bedford, 
Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. Maryland— James M'Henry, 
Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer, Daniel Carroll. Virginia— John Blair, James Madison, 
Jr. North Carolina— William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson. 
South Carolina — John Rutledge, Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, 
Pierce Butler. Georgia— William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest, William Jackson, Secretary. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

[The first ten amendments were proposed by Congress at their first session, in 
1789. The eleventh was proposed in 1794, and the twelfth in 1803.] 

ARTICLE I. 

FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit- 
ing the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; 
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for 
a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. 
RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. 

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right 
of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

NO SOLDIER TO BE BILLETED, ETC. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent 
of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 
UNREASONABLE SEARCHES PROHIBITED. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, 
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants 
shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particu- 
larly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 
CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, 
unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in 
the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or 
public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be put twice 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 283 

in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a 
witness against himself ; nor be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due 
process of law; nor shall private property betaken for public use without just com- 
pensation. 

ARTICLE VI. 

MODE OF TRIAL. 

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and 
public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall 
have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by 
law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be con- 
fronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 

ARTICLE VII. 
RIGHT OF TRIAL BY JURY. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty 
dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact tried by jury shall 
be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States than according to the 
rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 
BAIL.— FINES. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and 
unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

RIGHTS NOT ENUMERATED. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to 
deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE X. 
POWERS RESERVED. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited 
by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people. 

ARTICLE XI. 
LIMITATION OF JUDICIAL POWER. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any 
suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by 
citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII. 
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President 
and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same 
State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as 
President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President; and they 
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President and of all persons 
voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which list 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of 
the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest 
number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority 
of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such a majority, 
then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list 
of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose imme- 
diately by ballot the President. But in choosing the President, the vote shall be 
taken by States, the representatives from each State having one vote; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the 



284 CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice 
shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the 
Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other Con- 
stitutional disability of the President. 

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall be the 
Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers 
on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose 
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the 
whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 

But no person Constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be 
eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 
[Ratified in 1865.] 
ARTICLE XIII. 

Sec. 1. Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for 
crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the 
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legis- 
lation. 

[Ratified in 1868.] 
ARTICLE XIV. 

Sec. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they 
reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall aDridge the privileges 
and immunities of citizens of the United States. Nor shall any State deprive any 
person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any 
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according 
to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, 
excluding Indians not taxed; but whenever the right to vote at any election for 
electors of President and Vice-President, or United States Representatives in 
Congress, executive and judicial officers, or the members of the Legislature there- 
of, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years 
of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except foi par- 
ticipation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of representation therein shall be 
reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall oear to the 
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in that State. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, elector of 
President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United 
States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of 
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legisla- 
ture, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution 
of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the 
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; but Congress may by a vote 
of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law, 
including debts incurred for the payment of pensions and bounties for service in 
suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned; but neither the 
United States nor any State shall assume to pay any debt or obligation incurred in 
aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim tor the loss 
or emancipation of any slave, but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be 
illegal and void. 

Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, 

the provisions of this article. * 

[Ratified in 1870.] 
ARTICLE XV. 
Sec. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or 
abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account ot race, color or previous 
condition of servitude. 

Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appropriate 
legislation. 



INDEX. 285 



INDEX. 

REFERENCES ARE TO PAGES. 

Introduction 

Table of Contents 

Accumulated Constitutions 9 

Act of Congress, takes effect when. 16 

Act of Parliament, takes effect when_ 16 

Adjutant General 134 

Agriculture, State Board of 132 

American Rule in Michigan ; Ordinance of 1787 96 

Apportionment of Representatives in Congress 37, 119 

Arsenals, authority governing _ 35 

Assessor, school district 206 

Assessment Roll, review of. 239 

Attachment, action of.. 159 

Attainder, bill of _ 66 

Attorney General, U. S _ 50 

Attorney General, Mich.. _ 130 

Auditor General _ 128 

Auditors, Board of 130 

Authority of Government of U. S., territorial extent 34-36 

Authority, sovereign ; powers exercised \)j _ _ 10 

Bill of Attainder 66 

Bills of Credit 65 

Bills for Revenue . _ 40 

Board of Agriculture 132 

of Canvassers, State 133 

of Education, State _ 132 

of Equalization, State 131 

of Fish Commissioners.. 134 

of Health, State 133 

of Regents 132 

of Auditors -... 130 

Board of Supervisors 178 

powers of 179 

British Rule, in Michigan. _ , 93 



286 INDEX. 

Bureau of Insurance 136 

Charter, constitutions of the colonies 89 

Constitution of cities and villages. 209 

Circuit Court, U. S 58 

Circuit Court, State _ 146 

Circuit Court Commissioner. _ 154 

Cities and Villages .208-211 

Civil Government, what it is.. _ ..18-28 

Imports, what 20 

Civil Liberty 25 

Clerk, State Supreme Court 145 

Circuit Court 149 

County . 174 

Coin money, power to 65 

Collection of Revenue. _ 79 

Commissioner of Emigration _ 134 

of Highways „ 196 

of Railroads 135 

of State Land Office. _ 128 

Concurrent jurisdiction, meaning of.. _ _ 55 

Congress, act of, when takes effect... _ 16 

Powers of . 43-49 

Prohibited powers 45-49 

Constitution, definition of 7 

Force and effect of _ 9 

How formed 8 

of Michigan 256 

Written and unwritten _ 8 

Constitutional prohibitions upon the States __ 63 

Construction of Statutes 16 

Constables * 195 

Contracts, obligations of ; laws imp airing 66 

Convention of 1787 32 

Coroners 176 

Corporation, municipal, definition of — 171 

Counting the electoral vote 84 

Counties -- 170-182 

CountyClerk 174 

Drain Commissioner 177 

Officers 172 



INDEX. 287 

County Seat 172 

Surveyor „ 177 

Treasurer 175 

Court, definition of a 138 

of Claims 61 

Probate 152 

U. S. Supreme.. 52 

State Supreme _ __ 141 

U.S. Circuit 58 

State Circuit 146 

Courts, held by Justices of the Peace. 156 

Municipal 151 

Recorder's- 151 

Superior 151 

Credit, bills of.. 65 

Criminal Jurisdiction of Justices ._ 160 

Definition of Bill of Attainder. _ 66 

of Bill of Credit 65 

of Constitution.. 7-10 

of Court _ 138 

of Error, writ of - 141 

of ex post facto law ._ 45 

of Government _ 21 

of to govern 18 

of Habeas Corpus, writ of _ 45 

of Law _. 11-13 

of Law of the Land. 12 

of Mandamus _ _ 142 

of Marque and Reprisal, letters of _ _ 45 

of Money Bills 40 

of Municipal Corporation. _. 171 

of Procedendo, writ of 143 

of Quo Warranto 142 

of Sovereignty _. 10 

ofState __ 7 

of Statute. _„_13, 16 

Delegates, from Territories to Congress 36 

from the States to Congress 37, 38, 39, 40 

Qualifications of. 38, 40 

to State Legislature - - 108 



288 INDEX. 

Delegates, Qualifications of 110 

Disqualifications Ill 

Privileges of _ Ill 

Compensation _ Ill 

Departments of Government, U. S 37-62 

Executive _ _ .49-52 

Judicial 52-63 

Legislative 37-48 

Departments of Government, Michigan 105 

Executive 123 

Judicial _ 137 

Legislative- _ _ 108 

Director, school district 205 

Direct Taxes _ _ _ 78 

Distribution of Powers of Government 25 

District of Columbia, authority governing 35 

District Court, U. S- _ 53, 54, 58 

District Board, school 207 

Divisions of the State _ 90 

Drain Commissioner, county _ 177 

Township. 198 

Education, State Board of _ 132 

Election of President 81-86 

United States Senators _ 117 

Elections _ 211-227 

Aliens, how naturalized 215 

Canvass of ballots _ 224 

Citizenship forfeited 218 

General subject of _ 211 

Inspectors of. - 223 

Limitations on State power in matters of. 213 

Notices of - 222 

Provisions in Michigan Constitution _. 214 

Residence and Registration _ _ _ 219 

Secret ballot... 218 

Spring Elections 225 

Statutory provisions concerning ..- 218 

Times of holding _-_ 221 

Electoral College 83 

Emigration, Commissioner of..-, 134 



INDEX. 289 

Eminent Domain 68-74 

Limitations on the power _ 72 

Must be exercised for public purpose 70 

Property subject to be taken. 69 

Right as belonging to national authority 70 

The taking..-. - _ 71 

What the right is 68 

Equalization, State Board of . 131 

by Board of Supervisors _ 240, 241 

Executive Department, U. S 49-52 

Michigan 123 

Ex post facto law _ 13, 45 

Family, government in the 18 

A little state 19 

Unit of communities 20 

Fish Commissioners 134 

Form of State Governments _ 88 

Forts, authority governing IT. S _ 35 

French rule in Michigan 91 

Govern, to, definition. 18 

Government, chief concern of. 22 

definition of _ _ _ 21 

forms of 22 

generally 18-28 

powers of 24-33 

of theXJ. S 30-86 

of Michigan 105-246 

Governor of Michigan, appointments by _. 125 

Duties. 123 

Qualifications 123 

Powers ..123, 124 

Habeas Corpus, writ of 45 

Health, State Board of 133 

Highway Commissioner 196 

Highway Overseers 197 

House of Representatives, U. S _ 37, 40 

House of Representatives, State _ 108 

Impeachment, U. S. Officers 40n 

State officers Ill 

Indebtedness of Michigan 236n 



290 INDEX. 

Indiana Territory, Michigan a part of --- -- 98 

Indirect taxes _ _ 78 

Insurance, Bureau of 136 

Judicial Circuits, U. S - 53 

Judicial Circuits, State _ _ 149n 

Judicial Power, V. S _ 52-63 

State _ 137-166 

Concurrent _ 55n 

Jurisdiction, Courts, U. S 54-62 

Courts, State generally ._ 138 

Circuit Courts. .... _ 146 

Justices Courts, civil __ 156 

Justices Courts, criminal. _ _ . 160 

Municipal Courts... 151 

Original 54n 

Probate Courts 152 

Recorders Courts 151 

Superior Court 151 

Juries, injustices Court 163 

in Circuit Courts... 164 

in Supreme Court U. S 57 

Justices of the Peace... 155 

Courts held by 156 

Civil jurisdiction of 156 

Criminal jurisdiction of 160 

Lands, ownership of unpatented, in territories 36 

Law, ex postfacto _._ 13, 45 

Definitions of 11 

of the land - 12 

Penal , 13 

Retroactive _ 13 

Retrospective 13 

Legislative authority of cities and villages -.. _. 21 

Legislative department, government of U. S 37-48 

Government of Michigan ._. 108 

License, police power 254 

Liberty, civil, 25 

Political _ -- 26 

Lighthouses, authority over. _ _. 35 

Limitations on police power 249 



INDEX. 291 

Lotteries, etc. — police power ... 254 

Mandamus, writ of, definition . 142 

Marque, letters of 44, 64 

Mayor, city 210 

Meetings, school district 202 

Michigan, admitted as a State __. 102 

Before admission .._ 91-103 

British rule in 93 

French rule in 91 

Indian territory 98 

Ordinance of 1787., 96 

Territorial government of _ 99 

Michigan Constitution, general description 105 

Executive _ - 123 

Judiciary.... 137 

Legislative .- 108 

Moderator- 201, 203, 204 

Money Bills, definition of. - - _ 40 

Municipal Corporation, definition of 171 

Navy Yards, authority over 35 

Notaries Public 178 

Obligations of Contracts, laws impairing 66 

Officers of Congress _ 39, 41 

of State Legislature ..112, 114 

Ordinance, definition of_._ 14 

of 1787, Michigan under . _ 96 

Organization of School Districts 200 

Organization of State Legislature 114 

Original Jurisdiction, definition 54n 

Overseers of Highways. _ _. 197 

Parliament, declared will of, final law 9 

Act of takes effect 16 

Penal Law, definition 13 

Police Power, of the State 247-255 

Exercise of the power. _ _ 247 

Licenses, instances of _. 253 

Limitations upon 249 

Penalties for violating police regulations _ 251 

Power exercised for prevention and precaution 248 

Political Liberty 26 



292 INDEX. 

Political Liberty, Definition of 27 

Powers, exercised by the sovereign authority _ 10 

of Government _ _ 24 

Distribution of.. _ 25 

of Government, U. S m 30-34 

of Government, State _._87, 88 

Preferred Creditor _ __ 74 

President of U. S., third branch of Legislature 47 

Death, resignation, etc __ _ _. __ 51 

Duties 50, 51 

Election.. _. 50, 81-86 

Executive power vested in _ 49 

Salary _ 50 

Privilege of Writ of Habeas Corpus 45 

Probate Court __ 152 

Proceedings in Courts, something about... _ 162 

Procedendo, writ of _ 143 

Prosecuting Attorney 175 

Public Revenues, U. S _ 75-81 

Quo Warranto, definition. 142 

Railroads, Commissioner of _ 135 

Recorders' Courts 151 

Regents of University. 132 

Register of Deeds 176 

Relations of States to each other.. _ 87 

of State to Federal Government. 87 

Replevin _ ...160 

Representation of Cities on Board of Supervisors 210 

Representatives, House of. Michigan _ 108 

House of, in Congress 37-40 

Republican form of government, guaranteed the States 67 

Resolution 14 

Retroactive law — 13 

Retrospective law - 13 

Revenues, U.S.... 75-81 

Right, not recognized by Government, not available 23 

School districts - 200-208 

Assessor 206 

Director 205 

Meetings 202 



INDEX. 293 

School districts, Moderator _ 204 

Organization 200 

School Inspectors 198, 200 

Secretary of State, Michigan _._ 125 

United States _ _ 50 

Senate, State.. 112 

Congress 40 

Senatorial districts _ 113 

Senators, Michigan. _ 112 

United States 40 

Sheriff 150, 173 

Sovereignty, definition of 10 

Powers exercised by 10 

State, definition of a _._ 7 

State Auditors, board of _ _ 130 

State Board of Equalization _ _ 131 

State constitution, general remarks 105 

State government, generally.. _. 87 

Michigan before admission 91 

Michigan 105-246 

State Legislature 108 

State Librarian. 134 

State Powers •___. 88 

State Treasurer ._ _ 127 

States, constitutional prohibitions upon __ 63 

Relations to each other 87 

Relations to the Federal Government 87 

Statute, definition of . 13 

Opposed to Constitution, effect of _ 9 

Takes effect when _. 16 

Statutes, construction of - 16 

Provisions concerning enacting of. 15 

Suits, justices courts, how begun __ 157 

Summons, justices _ 158 

Superintendent of Public Instruction 126 

Supervisor _ 192 

Supervisors, board of 178 

Supreme Court, State. 141 

United States 52, 58 

Taxation, U.S ....75-81 



294 INDEX. 

Taxation, Direct taxes. 78 

Indirect taxes _ 78 

Power of __ 75 

Restrictions upon power _ 77 

State 227-246 

Apportioning the tax 238 

Constitutional provisions 231 

Equalization. 240 ; every fifth year 241 

Exempt property 234 

Extent of power _ 228 

General subject 227 

How taxes are collected in Michigan 232, 242 

Principles connected with power to tax 228 

Review of assessment roll _. _ 239 

Taxation under police power 232, 252 

Votingthe tax _ 235 

Warrant to roll _ _ 242 

What property to tax 233 

Territory, over which Federal Authority extends 34 

Territorial government of Michigan 99 

Territories, delegates from to Congress 36 

Exclusive power of legislation over 35 

Inhabitants of, participation in government 36 

Unpatented lands in, ownership 36 

Townships _. 184-198 

Township, action __. 189 

Board ._.. 194 

Clerk _ _. 193 

Division,; origin 184 

Meetings _ _ 189 

Organization _. 188 

Powers 188 

Supervisor .192 

Treasurer 193 

Treaty, alliance, confederation 63 

United States Government 30-86 

Departments of 37 

Powers of, generally _ 30-33 

Preferred creditor - 74 

Vice President, U. S., election 51 



INDEX. 295 

Vice President, Presiding officer of Senate, etc 40 

When acts as President _ _ 40 

Villages, Cities and ....208-211 

Warrant to tax roll 242 

Warrants, Justices _ 158 

Writ of Error 141n 

Habeas Corpus 45 

Mandamus 142n 

Procedendo 143n 

Written and Unwritten Constitutions 8 



